Finishing the Race Of Your Destiny Strong

FINISHING THE RACE STRONG
2 CHRONICLES 24: 1-5 ; 17-22
Although King Joash of the nation of Israel started the race of his destiny strong, he finished the same race very poorly. God had miraculously rescued him from the evil plot of his wicked grandmother, Athaliah to destroy him together with the entire royal family so that she could assume power after the death of her son Ahaziah.
He was hidden in the temple for six years without the knowledge of His wicked grandmother, who ruled the nation at the time. On the seventh Year of Athaliah’s reign; Jehoida the priest together with five army commanders successfully plotted and overthrew Athaliah from the throne and killed her. They then installed the seven years Joash, as king of Israel. Jehoida the priest acted as his guardian and trusted chief counsel.
The bible records that the young King Joash began his leadership very well as he keenly followed the advice of the trusted priest Jehoiada. Their relationship must have been very close like that of a son and father, since it was Jehoiada who chose of him his two wives.
One of their outstanding projects was the repair and restoration of the temple. Where the kingship and priesthood synergized their energies and efforts and refurbished the depilated Temple at Jerusalem after years of neglect from corrupt and backslidden previous leaderships.
QUESTION :- What happened to this Great king who began the race so well , but ended so poorly?
After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the leaders of Israel approached King Joash and offered to be his new advisors, now that his longtime advisor was dead. This was the genesis of King Joash’s problems. The advice that he received from the group of these leaders was, bad advice. What kind of advice are you receiving today. The advices we receive influence the decisions we make and ultimately the course of our lives. The advice we receive in our lives must be in line with the word of God. Jehoiada being a priest, must have adviced the young king in accordance to the word of God. His new set of advisors had vested interest as they advised the king, hence he soon got himself in deep trouble. The next question you must ask yourself is what is the character of the person offering me advice. Jehoiada being a priest must have been a godly person, hence his guidance was beneficial. The bible does not talk about the character of King Joash new advisors. However we can clearly see the results of their advice, therefore we can deduce what kind of people they were. It is foolishness to expect an orange from a lemon tree or bananas from an apple tree. A wicked man is only capable of producing wicked fruit, while it is a natural for a good nurtured woman to be helpful. Before you receive advice from anyone analyze the individual giving the advice; are they experienced in the area of interest? Have they succeeded in the same area? Do they have special knowledge in the area of interest? Are they trustworthy? What is there testimony?
King Joash also finished poorly because He abandoned the temple of the Lord. The temple is a place of worship and service to God. They neglected the most important thing and replaced their relationship with God for other things. The bible says that God is the author and finisher of our faith. He has the ‘blueprint’ of our lives. The moment we push him out of the ‘equation’ of our lives or we relegate him to second, third or fourth place in our lives, we are doomed to finish very poorly. Unfortunately many, including Christian believers we have pushed God down our list of priorities. Our Jobs, families, husbands, wives and even Christian ministry have taken the place of God and become idols, just like the Asherah pole worshipped by the backslidden ancient nation of Israel.
King Joash finished his race poorly because he refused to listen to the servants of God that were sent to him. The bible states; The prophets warned them, but still the people would not listen. Some Christians find it hard to believe that God still speaks. If we believe that we serve a living God who has created us in His own image, we should not have a hard time believing that a living God speaks and also like his creation made in His likeness desires to constantly communicate with us. God speaks to us through his written word the bible, through circumstances and situations, through an inner still voice and also through his servants. Therefore we must be alert and sensitive to know when he speaks. The word of God assures us that if we belong to him we will know when he speaks. In addition we can always ask Him in prayer to confirm His word and He will. To finish strong, You must listen and obey what God is instructing through His Prophets.
King Joash had a poor finish because, he repaid Jehoiada the priest who rescued him, brought him up and finally installed him as king with disloyalty by murdering the priest’s son. King Joash simply forgot where he came from. He repaid the good he had received with evil and as a result he had to reap what he had sown. God has instituted upon the universe the law / principle of sowing and reaping. We you sow beans you must reap beans. When you sow corn you must reap corn. The same principle applies to intangible or abstract objects , like love, hate, bitterness, loyalty etc. When you sow love you will reap love, when you sow bitterness, you will reap the same. King Joash sowed disloyalty and he reaped the same when his own officials assassinated him as he lay in bed.
FIVE THINGS TO HELP YOU FINISH THE RACE OF YOUR DESTINY STRONG
PURPOSE TO PLEASE THE LORD – The bible says that initially King Joash did what pleased the Lord. He was keen on knowing what was the will of God on every matter and did his best to do the bidding of the Lord. For You and I to complete the race of our destiny well, we must always ask ourselves; what is the mind of God in this matter? Remember that a true believers life is surrendered to Him. It is not about “me”, it is about Him. Our purpose in life is only discovered when we totally surrender and submit to His will. Amazingly we only get fulfilled when we begin to fulfill His purpose for us. Every believer must stop living a self-centered life and begin to life for him.
”Mark 8:35 -37 : For whosever will save his life shall lose it; but whosever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” In order to finish strong do not live for yourself, live for God. Self-preservation cannot really protect us , instead surrender to God and He will take care of you better than you can take care of yourself. The best place to invest your life is in the hands of the “Giver of life himself”. Investing your life on the things of this world is okay, but risky, because there security is temporal. Investing in pleasing and living for God is better because you are sure of eternal security. Hence it is more profitable to invest in an Eternal God.
Be a Team Player :- King Joash began as a great team player, involving the inputs of the priests and the levites in the mega project to restore proper worship in the temple. Although he was king with all authority to do as he pleased. He found it necessary to involve and recognize the inputs of other experts. “Do not walk alone”. “Do not be a lone ranger”. “Don’t be a superstar.” It is much better to work with likeminded people to achieve your goals. Even Jesus Christ , formed a team of twelve to win the world , in spite of the fact that he was the Son of God with all powers. When you are a team you are able to share the risks, burden of the work, expertise and finally you must be ready to share the profits and spoils too.
Be diligent: – Initially King Joash was diligent in his project. The king delegated the collection of the temple tax to priest and the levites as a means to fund raise for his mega project. After a while he realized that the priests and levites were lax in undertaking there responsibility and no funds were coming in. He therefore took it upon himself and closely supervised and followed up to ensure the project was a success. Do not leave anything to chance. We must be diligent in whatever assignments the Lord has given us in order to finish strong. “Proverbs 27:23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds.” God expects as to be diligent in whatever project or work he has availed to us. We need to give 101% of ourselves in the family, work , business, ministry that we are involved in, so we can finish strong. There is no room for laziness if we really desire to finish strong.
Lead from the front :- King Joash assumed leadership of the temple project that normally would have been initiated by the chief priest of Israel. He realized the broken temple was hindering the prosperity and progress of Israel. Instead of starting “the blame game” or “passing the buck” to the priesthood , he chose to ‘lead from the front’ and ensure the project was completed. Leadership is not a position, but ability to influence others towards a worthy cause. Your influence causes others to give you permission to lead them and your combined efforts produce desirable results. The entire leadership process should be able to produce growth in the particular area of interest. You do not need to be given an office or title to lead. Take the initiative to help others and solve problems like King Joash did and you will become a leader who will finish the race of destiny strong.
Be accountable and practice integrity :- King Joash and Jehoiada the priest handled all the public funds the received with great accountability and integrity. The bible says “This pleased all the leaders and the people, and they gladly brought their money and filled the chest with it”. Unfortunately this joy that was evident with the public, during King Joash reigns; with how their funds were handled is currently very rare. Public fund managed by governments, businesses, ngos, church ministries are normarlly dogged with controversy and conflict, because of lack of transperancy and a lack of integrity with the funds. Many great men and women, politicans, pastors, bishops, ceo’s finished the race of destiny poorly because of lack of integrity. I pray that the lord will enable us to be men and women of integrity so that we may finish well.

Sermon By Pastor Willy Ochieng
Senior Pastor Busia Lighthouse Church