The Power of Completion

When I was younger I was a naturally gifted runner; not the best or the fastest but I loved to run. Every play time I was running, every sports day I was running and trying to run faster than the other kids. There is nothing like running fast; you feel like you’re floating on air. By the time I was a teenager I would go for long runs to get fit.

One year, at the end of the footy season, a friend and I decided to do a half marathon; no training, no serious preparation just to see if we could do it. I got to 2 kilometres from the finish and both my calves cramped up and I could barely move. It took me 10 minutes to run (or hobble) the next kilometre. Eventually, I got back to a slow jog and finished the race. It was with a great sense of achievement that I finished. I had finished the race; I had done something that I had never done before.

As a Bible College President who has been involved in training people for ministry for 20 years, I see many start the race and not finish. I have always believed it is important to finish what God has asked you to do. I have seen incredibly gifted and anointed people fail, fall, stumble and not finish the race. I have seen those whom others would consider less talented or gifted grow, thrive and succeed. It has become apparent to me that something greater than a testamur hanging on the wall was helping some graduates to succeed above and beyond those who did not finish. It is the blessing and favour of God on those who finish and bring to completion what they started in God. It is the spiritual power of completion.

Last week I was reflecting on the creation account and the spiritual power of completion. After six days God completed creation and rested. Many people view the creation of humankind as the pinnacle event. Let me suggest to you another thought. The most spiritually powerful act of the creation was completion. Gen 2.1 “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed.”

The 7th day ushers in the blessing of completion. Completion brings rest, the favour of God and declares what we have completed to be holy. Rest is powerful. Incredibly important things happen when we rest. Our body, soul and spirit all regenerate. Completion brings the favour of God and an open heaven. Completion makes what we have finished Holy. God declares it to be Holy and useful in the Kingdom; that which was considered ordinary is now Holy. The spiritual power of completion is not an ascetic or theological concept but it is a life key that I have experienced over and over again.

For most people the disconnect is that we fail to see completion as inherently spiritual; we see it as practical. We evaluate the effort of completion with the immediate benefits of completion. Sometimes it gets too hard, sometimes we lose interest or sometimes we just plain can’t be bothered. What difference does it make if I don’t complete an insignificant task? What does it matter if I do not complete the race? Finish that task at work? The task my parents gave me? Filling out that application form? Packing away those chairs? Finishing that assignment? Preparing that meal? It may not matter in the practical evaluation of reward for effort, however, it does matter in the spiritual realm where something well above reward for effort happens.

It’s important because God has empowered completion.

James puts it this way, “consider it all joy when you enter into various trials knowing that . . . you will be perfect and complete (completion) lacking nothing.” The original Greek makes it clear that the goal is not perfection but completion. God wants us to finish and not just the life journey of faith but also the seasonal journeys. When one season is finished it opens the door for the next season to begin. The last words of Jesus on the Cross were “It is finished.” Don’t doubt it there is power in completion.  

God completed the work of creation, rested and made it Holy. Jesus completed the work of salvation, rested and it was Holy. God wants us to be complete, enter into his rest and be Holy. 

So the next time you are struggling to finish the task God has given you, consider the spiritual power of completion.

Dr Brendan Roach