Well, the holiday is allmost over, but for me and my family there remains a little more work. The fireworks tent we operate as a family project was a huge success this year, .(See Faith, Family, and Fireworks) however the cleanup still looms on the horizon. Needless to say, we are all tired. The constant days in the heat coupled with loss of sleep has took its toll from all of us. Tired or not the job must be completed. The product left unsold must be boxed up and stored along with all the tables, the tent, etc. If we didn't follow through on this aspect just because we are tired then next year we would start in an insurmountable hole.
While wonderfully wallowing in self pity over the extreme fatige, I thought of two bible characters who really know the definition of tired. The first is Eleazar, one of David's "mighty men," who stood his ground against the Philistines even when all his men had retreated. The bible says "he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day." (2 Samuel 23:10) Wow, I've never known hand freezing tired!
The second tired man was Moses. Moses sent Joshua out to fight the Amalekites while he would stay behind with his arms raised toward Heaven. Whenever Moses' arms were up, the Israelites would be successful, but when he let his arms down the tide would turn against them. Instead of giving up, when he became too tired to continue, Moses sat on a rock while Aaron and Hur each held up an arm. (See Exodus 17) We all need a little help from time to time.
Life in general will present us with many trying times and the Christian life is no exception. We often will be tempted to just throw up our hands and give up at those times when we are tired and frustrated. But, it is precisely these times when we must either summon the will of Eleazar or call upon our Christian brethren to help us stand. We must never let a temporary rest stand between us and our eternal rest.
"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." (Hebrews 10:36)
Let's all get a good nights sleep, we just might need it
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