CCC 28-4_LR

PASS IT ON

My challenge to you is to speed up, not slow down, as you near the finish line you are facing...

you. Many of you may have already guessed the verse that captures this challenge. It’s Hebrews 12:1 (NASB): “Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us.” There is so much in that verse. The amazing question: Who are those “witnesses” lining the street as we near the finish? What are those obstacles and sins that slow us down? Where does that endurance come from to complete the course that God has set before each of us? While I think the writer of Hebrews is talking about the course of our lives, it is a powerful picture of ending well, of facing up to the things that can encumber or hold us back, and of confronting the sin that slows or stops us from finishing well, which leads me to a question and a challenge for you: “What’s a finish line that is right around the corner in your life?” Perhaps you are in your last year of college or graduate school. Perhaps it is an internship, a job, or a ministry position that you know isn’t a “forev er” position. In your heart of hearts, you know it is time to head in a dif ferent direction. Or maybe you have been thinking for years that you need to make a major move to a different state, are about to become empty nesters, or a season of life is nearing an end. Maybe you are beginning to realize that the finish line of your career is right around the corner, and what comes next is unclear. My challenge to you is to speed up, not slow down, as you near the finish line you are facing, as a father I recently met did with his son. As he looked at his son, Alan realized that one day a finish line would be approaching for him. His son had just turned 13, and Alan realized how quickly childhood had raced by and how soon it would be before his son left home. t

Instead of pulling over or coming up with reasons to slow down, he decided to speed up and face that finish line, stepping into creating an experience—a rite of passage—for his son, one he prayed would help him answer many of the questions that even young men face: Who am I? Who does Scripture say I should be? How do I let God shape my life instead of culture shaping me into its mold? What Alan stepped toward in confronting that “finish line” for his son became a four-year program with him—one that now helps other fathers step forward, not back, in those crucial pre-teen years. It is called Bear the Fire (www.bearthefire.com) and is an absolute challenge course designed for men and their sons. It calls a small group of fathers and sons to carve out time and to specify how to do so, to help their sons do something great. Which is to become someone great in understanding and following God’s word in these difficult, changing times. It is a program that ends with a “blessing” for that son who has faced and finished a great course in doing life well for the Lord and for others they will impact in the years to come. How about you? Your challenge and finish line may not be preparing a son to launch well into life. However, Lord willing and as He allows us time, life, and strength, you can see that finish line looming ahead of you. One way I have challenged myself and others I have coached or counseled to do this is to come up with three things that are important to finish while nearing the finish line. Three big, “I can only finish this with God’s help,” goals that can push you ahead. These goals should not define or shame you if you do not get them done or do not do them perfectly. Instead, they are commitments that can motivate you not to coast or “quietly quit” as so many do in the face of change—actively asking God for the wisdom and endurance to finish a season or experience well. For me, after 40 years of ministry, while I do not yet sense or see a finish line, I do recognize that a transition lies ahead. So instead of denying it is there or slowing down, here are three goals I have thought about and prayed over— goals I am using to help speed up, not slow down, over the next several years: 1) I am committed to taking the materials we have created over the years and moving them into the forms that this generation uses most. Yes, that means I am using AI to build YouTube Channels and learn to develop online commu nities, rather than just doing on-site seminars, which, for me, is a huge and challenging learning curve, 2) I am committed to transitioning from being the leader of our ministry to helping our eldest daughter, Kari, reshape our ministry around The Blessing, to help her desire to take the lead in serving a new gen eration of parents to speak life and move from broken to blessed, and 3) I am focusing on being there for my wife, Cindy, our children, and grandchildren as they step forward in life. How about you? What is that “finish line” you are facing? May the Lord give you the courage, endurance, wisdom, and purpose to get moving toward His best… to come up with goals and run through the tape in the course He has given you! ;

John Trent, Ph.D., is the Founder of StrongFamilies.com and works alongside his eldest daughter, Kari Stageberg, to help men and women give and live The Blessing. Their new book is titled Your Journey from Broken to Blessed (Focus on the Family/Tyndale Publishers).

Christian Counseling Connection 35