Unfinished

I have this awful habit of starting things and never finishing them. I've been reading through old blog posts that I started, that were then left abandoned in various stages of completion. Some were a single thought; some were paragraphs long and only needed a proof read. Even the words you just read were a post I started in 2011, almost ten years ago.

Unfinished things bother me. Whether it's one bite of food remaining on a plate or a few pages unread in a book, I just want to finish it. I love to check things off a list. I love to throw things away (or give them away). One sip of coffee won't last long in a cup because I can easily finish it.

At the same time, things that matter go unfinished.  I start projects, like this Lenten focus on writing, but abandon them midway... unfinished. I have been on and off a journey to health for most of the last decade, but I still weigh about the same as when I started... unfinished. I attended college for two years after graduating high school twenty years ago, and I'm a student today... unfinished.

Thankfully, I believe in a God who finishes what He starts. There's a Greek word in the Easter story that we love to talk about at this time of year: Tetelestai.  It means "it is finished" as in "Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit" (John 19:30, NASB).

Tetelestai is known as the Word of Triumph. In Christ's most difficult moment, He declares that he has finished what needed to be done. I pray that God gives me the strength to proclaim Tetelestai in the challenges I face.

When I suffer for doing right. Tetelestai.

When friends have abandoned me. Tetelestai.

When I've done everything I should. Tetelestai.

In my darkest moment. Tetelestai.