Dharius Daniels - Finishing Faith

Mark chapter 8, verse 22 is where I want to begin. We’ve been in a series for what feels like forever, called «Big.» I want to draw your attention to Mark chapter 8, verse 22. It says, «They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. Then he took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes, he put his hands on him and asked, 'Do you see anything? ' He looked up and said, 'I see people; they look like trees walking around.' Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. His eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.» I will stop the reading of God’s Word right there. I want to talk from the subject of «Finishing Faith.»

I want to remind some and inform others who are seated in this space or watching online that the God who reveals Himself in the Bible is a God who finishes. I’m simply suggesting that in His dealings with His people throughout Scripture, God does nothing partially or fractionally. When God does anything, He starts with the intention to finish because He finishes what He starts, and He only starts what He intends to finish. Finishing is not just what He does; a finisher is who He is. He cannot help but finish. Finishing is in His nature. He is agitated and irritated by incompletion. He is committed to completing something once He starts it. When He created the world, He didn’t just start and not finish. When He parted the Red Sea, He didn’t just start and not finish. When He knocked down Jericho’s walls, He didn’t just start and not finish. When Jesus turned water into wine, He didn’t just start and not finish and make it watery wine. When He fed the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread, He didn’t just start and get to about 1,500 and not finish. When He healed the woman with the issue of blood, He didn’t just half-heal her and not finish. Jesus is a finisher! Come on, somebody!

This revelation causes a revolution in the way we think about seasons of delay in our lives. It means that we shouldn’t panic, become overwhelmed, or filled with anxiety. Why? Because if God helped me start it, then God is going to help me finish it. If He helped me start the business, He will help me run it. If He helped me have the child, He will help me raise it. If He helped me get my mind to one level, He will take it to the next level because God is committed to finishing.

Why, Pastor Darius, are you reiterating this consistently? It’s because I’ve taught you before that the God you see is the God you get. Your experience with God will be no greater than your revelation of Him. So, the question now isn’t just, «Is God a finisher?» Here it is: the question is, «Do we have faith?»

What do you mean? An example is right here in Mark chapter 8, our foundational passage for today. The Bible says Jesus and His disciples walked to a place called Bethsaida, where they were just relaxing together. The Bible says some people brought Jesus a blind man and begged Him to touch him.

Now, everybody say «blind.» Okay, this man is physically blind, but blindness is a metaphor in the Bible for a lack of vision. They brought a man to Jesus who was visionless. For my note-takers, vision is a picture of God’s preferred future for our lives. Vision is a sneak preview of a coming attraction. It’s the trailer to a movie that hasn’t come out yet. When you see a trailer, you don’t see the whole thing, but you see enough to know this is about to be good.

Is there anybody here honest enough to say you see some things for your life and think, «I don’t know every detail, but I know enough to know this is about to be good, about to be big, about to be exceedingly and abundantly above all I ask or think?» This man was visionless.

Here it is: sometimes people are blind from birth. That’s a metaphor for people who have never lived their lives with vision. Think about that—they’ve lived their whole lives without a clear picture of why their life matters. It’s dangerous to live like that. The Bible says without vision, people perish, or without vision, people cast off restraint; it means you have no marker to help you make decisions. You don’t know what to say yes to and what to say no to. You don’t know which path to take. If I don’t know where I’m trying to end up, that makes sense, right? This is why when vision becomes clearer, decisions become easier. When you have a vision for your life, some choices become easy.