“30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” – John 19:30 ESV

Darren Aronofsky’s brilliant film “The Fountain” from 2006 tells the tale of a dying wife (played by Rachel Weisz) whose scientist husband (played by Hugh Jackman) is racing against rapidly diminishing time to find a cure for her before she dies of a tumor. The story folds multiple universes and timelines into a single parallel universe about God, the afterlife, death and rebirth, and lives lived multiple times with a recurring purpose.

The goal is to find the source of life. She tells her husband, “finish it”. He believes, as his parallel characters believe, that it means finding what they are looking for. But she knows, as she did in her past and future life, that to finish it means not just finding it, but becoming one with it. To “finish it” means going the entire distance, beyond the discovery of what you are looking for – without looking back and with total trust.

Jesus finished it. Even with all the power of God at his disposal, he could not accomplish his goal without “finishing it”. He couldn’t cut corners. He couldn’t negotiate an alternative plan. God formed the plan. Jesus accepted it. Only once, before his betrayal that would lead to his arrest and death, did he plead with his Father if maybe there was another way. But he accepted that if there was not, he would fulfill his promise. He would finish it, even while enduring a torturous death. And finishing it also meant that he must not, for any moment, break his will nor his love. To finish meant that it had to happen a certain way and no other way.

I was told to “finish it” – and the words she spoke to me plunged into my chest.

Like all of us, I toil each day to figure out how to complete my endless to-do list, and to what direction to point my multiple ships. Yet she cuts through the fog and simply says, “finish it”.

So, I stopped and thought, “What is my mission? What am I supposed to do?”

Not what do I think I should do, or what others are asking me to do, but what must be done by me, and me only, in order to “finish it”? I get glimpses of it in the murkiness of a busy life, but it’s not so clear with so many directions to go.

I don’t know if she realized the impact it would have on me.

Can you deep dive into yourself and discover your mission? Do you have a mission? Do you want a mission? When you find your mission do you have the courage and will to fulfill your mission? Can you finish it?

Faith is key here. Faith in yourself. Faith in God. Your driving force may be your passion to fulfill what you started, but the belief that you will reach your goal, and that God is carrying you to that end, is paramount to success in the face of all the adversity and doubt you will experience along the way.

Does God determine our mission?

Can I finish it?

I must…