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FINISHING WELLIssue #43 - November 2015

There seems to be a growing number of people not finishing as well

as they start. This month, Abner Syambi helps us appreciate the
concept of Finishing Well.

Abner Syambi

2. Is finishing well guaranteed by a good start?

Not necessarily. In the sense that even people who confess or profess God, unless
they remain faithful and trusting, they can miss the good finish because the devil
is on our heels ready to devour. People can get carried away, maybe get enticed
by things of the flesh and they will turn away. So, even if they had started well,
they will go off the tangent.

3. If someone starts something, is it a must that they should be the ones to

finish it?
Not necessarily. For example, I start by nurturing my children into Christian life.
Well as in my heart, my desire is that these children should grow and live lives that
please God, I may end up disappointed because the devil may wrestle some of
them out of their faith because he has created attractive worldly options. Money
is one such thing especially for the young people who are always looking and
comparing themselves to their colleagues and contemporaries who seem to be
doing well and living better lives.
God tells us to accept humble beginnings but the devil will say, Dont wait for
humble beginnings. Get onto the thing and do your thing. Soon or later you
become lukewarm in the things of the Lord because a part of your heart is in the
Abner has been a member of KBC
world as you strive to be like X and Y who are doing so well.
since 1983 and has served on the
There are people who may even be coming to church and they seem to give you
Board of Elders. He was first invited
the impression they are believers but when their hearts are on something else.
th
to KBC by Dick Otto. He just recently celebrated his 76 birthday.
They may be driving and so you also get tempted and carried away. But God has
said you cannot serve him and the world.
1. It looks like everything we do in life, even life itself, must eventually come to an My intention is that whatever I start, even when God calls me, I leave it for Him to
end. How does one know they have finished well?
ensure that it is successfully completed. But essentially the aim of anyone who
It depends on ones lifestyle. If one puts their faith and trust in God, they can be sure starts something should be to finish that which they have started.
they will finish well.
The late Bishop Mensusera Bugimbi, who was the first bishop of Luweero Diocese
with the Church of Uganda, is a man I had known for many years. He had worked with
my sister and brother in law (the Sseruyanges) as they oversaw the work of Life
Ministry first in Nairobi, and then in Uganda. People like the late Bugimbi, because of
his commitment to the Lord , lived a dignified life and died a dignified person. My
sister and her husband I would say are humble and living dignified lives.
If one trusts in worldly ventures, their own wisdom and strength, more likely, they
will not finish well because things of the world come and go. And I can give you many
examples of people whom I have known who at one point looked like they had the
world in their own hands, but somewhere things fell apart and they ended up
miserable. Very powerful men, government ministers, name them, have died
miserably and yet they were on top of things at one time in their lives.

Abner Syambi is a married man with

5 children. Having been forced into
exile in 1975, he came back to
Uganda in 1981 and soon after met
Christ on his birthday in 1983.
He worked with UNs Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
before retiring in 2001. He has been
a part of the Bible Study Fellowship
(BSF) leadership since its inception
in Uganda in 1990.

...if we remain faithful, we can be

sure well finish well
I joined FAO at the same time with a friend who worked for UNDP but was very
ambitious. And so he did things to please the people at the top and somewhere in the
process, he moved to the international position. But years down the road, things
didnt seem to go well. After a number of years, I heard the man was sick, and had
died. When we struggle in our human effort, we are also causing our bodies to live
under a lot of pressure and in turn, organs in the body suffer.
That is why I say that the difference is where one puts their trust. God is the only one
who can give us a life where, if we remain faithful, we can be sure well finish well.
And I mean faithful in the real sense of the word. Because there are people who will
say Praise God, Praise God! but when it is only coming from their lips. In their
hearts, they are different persons.
Today one can get excited because they have succeeded in A, B and C and they think
things will be like that even tomorrow. But that is not the case.
To be sure that we will finish well, we should live lives that please God. And His
reward is not to disappoint us but to enable us to live with him forever in joy and
peace.
Drop us an email at kbcmediateam@gmail.com

4. Is there anything like the right time to finish?

Well, when you start something, you have a target: what you want to get. If you
do not get that target and I must confess sometimes it is not our will not to hit
our targets. Sometimes sicknesses or other pressures can take you off your
target then maybe it is not yet a good time to finish. But even Sir Alex Ferguson
could not remain a manager at Manchester United Football Club forever. If you
feel that where you have reached you have done your best, then I think that is a
good time to finish.
Seeking Gods guidance, however, in all we do is very important because He will
undoubtedly tell us when to finish. The Senior Pastor of Deliverance Church (DC)
Laban Jjumba during their 40th marriage anniversary celebration told us he had
wanted to retire from being senior pastor at DC. But when he prayed and sought
Gods guidance, He told him not to. God told him you have been doing a lot of
field work. I now want to put you into more active service. God told him He still
had more assignments for him.
So one needs to pray and seek Gods guidance when they are planning where they
want to stop and see if that is what God wants for them.
The KEY RING is a monthly publication by the Kampala Baptist Church Media
Team that seeks to provide an avenue where men and women can share
knowledge and understanding of the word of God, experiences and
encourage one another as the older perform the act of paralambano to the
younger.
Our prayer is that the Lord will speak to you through this publication.
Visit the church website at www.kbcuganda.org