Finishing My Part

Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished…so the children of Israel did all the work.

__Exodus 39:32, 42 (NKJV)

There is “finished” and then there’s “your part in the process is finished.”

Today’s bible verses are a good example. There’s a whole of “finishing” between verse 32 and verse 42.

I remember my first “finished” building project as a pastor. It was at my second pastorate in New Ellington, SC. Having very little money and resources, a handful of us decided to build it ourselves. I’ll never forget the satisfying feeling of finishing it!

But run the clock up a few decades and you could have gone with me on a special trip back to New Ellington to see where I lived, worked, and ministered.

The building was still standing, but it was finished in an entirely different way. It stood there, unkept, neglected, and mostly forgotten.

Why?

Because the church had moved on. It was at a new location with far better facilities and, more importantly, far better impacting it community for good.

Even the Tabernacle described in today’s verse as being finished, reached a day when it was packed up for the last time and never used again.

“Finishing” is a rare event.

If you have to always be the one who finishes something, you will greatly limit what you can achieve. Most of the time you must be willing to settle for “Finishing my part.”

The ONE THING for today: You will seldom be present when the most important things are finished. All you need to do is be present today – engaged, giving your best, and encouraging the next work crew as they begin to arrive.

Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash