Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Nehemiah 4:16-23

Sometimes rest is not an option. God hard-wired each of our bodies with the capacity to metabolize food and to produce energy. This relies on a number of factors: a healthy diet, exercise, and regular sleep to name a few. When we don’t have one or multiples of these, our bodies begin to decrease the output of energy. So being sleep-deprived will by nature take its toll on our energy level in the classroom or workplace. Eating McAnything everyday for breakfast, lunch or dinner will eventually result in the decline of energy and the rise of exhaustion.
And so, we get tired. As a matter of fact, as victims of our own horrible practices, we get tired a lot. Whether it was staying up late on Facebook, or playing just one more hour of Modern Warfare, or watching just one more episode of Get Smart on Netflix, we deprive ourselves of sleep and find the next day we are absolutely exhausted, and we catch ourselves nodding off with little to no energy.
When it comes time for discipline, or when it comes time to do the things we should be doing, we cower in the excuse “I’m just too tired to do that now, maybe later.”
God’s work often gets back-seated to our “tiredness.” We don’t read His Word. We never talk to Him in prayer. We don’t engage those around us in the soul-liberating truth of Jesus. All, because we are too tired.
One old-timer put it this way, “If I only worked when I wasn’t tired, I would have never done anything in my life.” We will be tired. The work will be rough. At times, bloodshot eyes, weak eyelids, and tired limbs must work together to press on and accomplish the God-ordained task at hand.
This was the case with Nehemiah and his wall-builders. With the impending attacks of enemy forces, everyone was forced to work double duty at the wall. When one was building, another stood next to him ready to fight. After several hours, they would swap places. The exhaustion must have been nearly overwhelming. But, if they had only worked when they were not tired, the wall of Jerusalem would never have been built. Rather with a firm reliance in a faithful God, Nehemiah and his exhausted workers pushed through their fatigue to accomplish what God desired of them. When it came to accomplishing what God had called them to, this was a season of work and rest just was not an option.

Food For Thought: What are some of the reasons you get tired? Is tiredness an excuse to not continue working to grow in godliness?

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