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by Rhonda Rhea
Have you ever had one of those days when nothing gets done? It's not that you haven't worked hard, but at the end of the day, everything looks about the same. You empty your bank account paying the bills knowing that, though the paycheck is history, the bills will be fruitful and multiply. You clean the peanut butter off the kitchen windows while someone is putting Milk Duds in the toaster. You ready the last little body for church, but then you find that the first child you dressed has spent the balance of his time trying to cover the cat with pudding. Do I even need to mention the laundry? Unless you have naked people running around your house, it's clearly never finished.
I feel your pain. But I have some encouragement for you in your unfinished business. First, we can rest in the knowledge that we won't have these kinds of chores in heaven. Surely bathtub rings, red Kool-Aid carpet stains and assorted ring-around-the-collar situations all came with the curse of sin. Evil stuff. It's not that I don't think we'll have jobs to do in Glory, it's just that I'm sure heaven must be an ammonia-free zone. No scrubbing bubbles. No Tidy-Bowl man. No tears. No chemical-watery eyes.
I'll encourage you, too, with the news that we can cope in the here and now with feeling that so much of what we do is left hanging (nothing to do with putting clothes away).
Do you know when we're the most frustrated about not finishing or accomplishing anything? It's when we're struggling in our own strength to do the finishing, and we're focusing on the wrong accomplishments. Everything that's really important in life is already finished by the "Author and Finisher" of our faith. When we surrender and let the Finisher do the finishing, the Completer do the completing, we can kick off our shoes and stop sweating the never-ending bills, dust bunnies and laundry.
"Now may the God of peace...make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 13:20-21).
He is the Completer of every good work in us, and even more importantly, the Completer of our very hearts. "He who began a good work in you will complete it," we're told in Philippians. And "You are complete in Him" is the message of Colossians 2:10. When the Father completed His redemptive plan for us through the sacrificial death of His Son on the cross, the three words that rang across eternity were "IT IS FINISHED."
So shrug away the muddy socks you found under the sofa – even if you did find a fish stick inside. Yes, even if you can't remember the last time you had fish sticks. Rest in knowing that the Father has completed the works that make life worth living, and eternity is something to look toward with great joy and anticipation. Rejoice in knowing that no one can add the "finishing touch" the way our Father does.
As for this article – I'm finished!
~ Rhonda Rhea writes award-winning inspirational humor columns for other Christian publications in the U.S. and Canada. Look for her new book, Amusing Grace, at your local Christian bookstore. Click here to see her website.
