Ending Strong

Starting strong doesn’t always mean that you will end strong.  I read a blog on this subject this morning and on other occasions so I thought I would add my two cents, so to speak, on the subject.  It always hurts to start out strong and then end up a failure when you know you could have ended the same way you started, but along the way you began to compromise or became lackadaisical or allowed something to hinder your progress.  I think we can all think of someone that fits into this category, if not we ourselves.

I remember doing a job for a company as the supervisor, starting out strong with great approval and popularity, but ending up humiliated because of pride and arrogance on my part.  I let the popularity and approval go to my head and I allowed pride to keep me from doing what I should have done and counted on others to do what was my own responsibility to do.  

There have been numerous people in our government that started out strong and popular with very good reputations but ended up failures with terrible tarnished reputations.  I’m not going to name anyone in the government because my purpose is not to run down anyone but to point out what can happen if we are not careful how we conduct ourselves and our affairs.

To bring this over to the Christian realm there are evangelists, pastors and teachers that started out strong and ended in total defeat because of some of the bad choices they made, and being in the public eye brought shame on themselves and the God they served and the church also.  The Bible speaks of people that started out strong and popular but in the end were failures.  

One who comes to mind is Saul the first King of Israel; he started out strong and was very popular, he was by worldly standards the ideal person to be a king.  But judging from outward experience is not always a good gauge to follow when promoting a person to an important position and Saul was no exception.  Although he looked promising outwardly, Saul had a rebellious character and often rebelled against God and in the end was rejected by God as King.

Then there was King Asa Baasha, you can read the way he started out in 2 Chronicles 15.  King Asa started out very strong, bringing honor to God in all he did, but in the end he forgot God and depended on the King of Syria and was confronted by the Prophet Hanami who was sent by God.  Read what it says about this in 16:7-9, “And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: ‘Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’”

And this was King Asa’s reaction to what he heard, it is in 16:10-12, “Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.”

Then he died a broken and bitter man, but the outcome could have been so different if he would have repented and turned back to the Lord.  This tragedy could happen to anyone of us, so be careful, there are many ways we can start out strong and end up tragically. 

There are some things that can cause our downfall mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13:

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

I hope this helps you to finish strong, but if you do fall into one of these areas or some other sin in your walk with the Lord and are made aware of it, don’t let pride disqualify you and knock you out of your good standing; humble yourself before the Lord and repent and confess your sin and continue your good standing with the Lord.  Something to think about and may the good Lord bless you and yours and may your day be a blessed one.