By George Bristow
What does it look like to finish well? It seems that too many of the Lord’s followers, including missionaries, do not finish well. The Lord sets before each of us a different race to run with endurance (Hebrews 12:1). Your course is not mine, nor is mine yours. But we are called to persist. Paul, knowing the great difficulties facing him toward the end of his life, told a group of elders of his desire and determination to finish well: “None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy.” (Acts 20:24)
I recently spoke at a retreat where we looked at five servants of the Lord who overcame great obstacles and completed their races well: Job, John the Baptist, Peter, Stephen, and Paul. Using their examples, let’s consider what sort of things we might encounter.
The Lord might allow us to endure great loss or physical suffering as Job did. He overcame Satan’s attacks by worshipping God: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) God may call us, too, to serve in a spiritual conflict (even without knowing it). Job wrestled with his unexplained suffering while his friends maligned him, he pleaded with God, and he repented for speaking out of turn. God vindicated him as “My servant Job” and restored his blessings when he prayed for his friends (42:7–10).
We might face unmet expectations when our ministry does not turn out as we had hoped. John the Baptist, the Lord’s forerunner, had proclaimed Jesus as the One who would burn up the ungodly “chaff,” yet wicked King Herod ruled, and John languished in prison (Matthew 3:12). He expressed his disillusion to Christ: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3, ESV) Jesus called him to not stumble and then praised him highly (though John didn’t hear the praise). He finished well as he was cruelly beheaded. Many believers throughout the world today must overcome as martyrs (Revelation 12:9–11).
We may taste the bitterness of great personal failure as Peter did. Despite being a fervent follower of Christ, Peter denied three times that he knew the Lord. He overcame his failure and grief only because Christ prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail and met him alone after rising from the dead (Luke 22:32; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Luke 24:34). God can restore us and call us to serve Him again (John 21:15–19). Peter finished well and glorified God by the death he was granted to die.
We may be confronted with the challenge to defend our faith to leaders and rulers as Stephen was. As one full of the Spirit, he willingly served tables to help resolve a church conflict, boldly proclaimed Christ with other believers, used the whole Bible to expose the Jews’ persistent rejection of God’s chosen ones, and was stoned to death while seeing the Son of Man at God’s right hand. He finished well, praying for his murderers and entrusting his spirit to the Lord. His death glorified God, who used the persecution that arose after to move His witnesses out of Jerusalem (Acts 8:1–4; 11:19).
We may endure long years of service with much opposition as Paul did. He trained the next generation of workers and entrusted them with the Gospel. He pressed on to the end with hope and faith, despite spending long years in prison and being deserted by many coworkers. He wrote the motto of those who finish well: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
Most of us will not finish our race as martyrs as four of these five witnesses did. But God calls us all to overcome as Christ’s servants: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” (Revelation 21:7) Each of us has a unique race to run. The Lord says to you and me, “You follow Me.” (John 21:22) Let’s set our hearts to finish our courses and the ministries we have received from the Lord Jesus.
George Bristow, Other Overseas Service (MPH Day 27)
Originally published in Missions magazine, February 2024. For more content, sign up for a free subscription (US) to Missions at CMML.us/magazine/subscribe
