I wish to first say that the past number of weeks have been very long and tiring. God has been truly faithful to provide work despite Covid-19. I do not wish to say or show anything as if I had any hand in it; it truly has been God who has been providing all along.
And some of the days have been rather long. There were a number of jobs that were long days during the day. There were a number of jobs that were scheduled that day and then at night. And then there were jobs that were scheduled day, night, and right back at it during the next day. This resulted in little to no sleep for Judy (if she accompanied me) and me. Yesterday and going into today was no exception with work yesterday and lots of driving to then work all night and then to head out for outreaching the next day in the hot sun. Some people have said that the Kingdom is built on tired people. But there is a saying, “make hay when the sun is shining” or in other words when there is work to do, it is best to work as much as you can because there are times when there is no work. Jesus said the same thing in John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” Sometimes God offers lean times to teach us. Sometimes God brings lean times to humble us. Sometimes—although not often for me for the past few months—God makes times lean so we can get a break and get caught up on things. And sometimes there are lean times that God allowed for us to dig deeper to trust Him more and above all give Him to glory. Keith Green said it this way, “And when I’m doing good, please help me to never seek a crown for my reward is to give glory to You.” I was speaking to a man named Reuben today on outreach and although this scripture applied more to what him and I were talking about, there is something Jesus said in John 11:4—although out of context partly—that I would like to apply to follow up on what was said and what Keith sang, “…but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
And although in comparison yesterday and into today were rough, it did not serve as anything different or more unique than other days when there were long work days. And that is because all that I said serves as a pale comparison to the following.
Many a Bible teacher and preacher pulls from the event of 2 Samuel 12. This chapter focuses on the multiple sins King David committed and his repentance. We often focus or single out the sexual sin committed by David and ignore a number of other factors and matters in David’s heart occurred beyond sexual intercourse and a cursed child. I say that to say that often in people, perhaps more so in men, there are issues of the heart that left unexplored in healthy outlets or surrendered to God for the unhealthy, we can find ourselves mired in a tangled up mess and it seems to matter how hard fight, the worse we get tangled. I think of Pilgrim and his companion when they were snared in a trap/net that the more they struggled, the tighter the net got. Many a person, myself included (thus the inspiration for this), find ourselves in a mess. For some it is drugs and/or alcohol. Some it may be pornography. Some it may be another/wrong relationship. Some it may be financial mismanagement. Some it may be a series of poor choices and/or character attributes of a person. And it is beyond lies upon lies and trying to keep up with that. Whatever it is, we keep getting worse or more headlong in it.
Sadly the resolution often sought becomes complicated because we feel that justice means equal time of sin or crime or whatever equates to a similar amount of time and/or cost for restitution. And not saying the following to minimize damage or that consequences won’t result, but the Apostle Paul cried out in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Paul turned to God (see verse 25). David turned to God (see 2 Samuel 12:13). I turned to God. Others have turned to God. We have to trust and depend on God to right the ship of our failure, even when we had carefully covered it with religion. And that is the key—trust and depend—because often we want to perform pennants to restore when God declared, “I forgave you when My Son hung on the cross.” Again, it doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences but that measure of faith, trust, and surrender we had when we first truly accepted Christ into our lives needs to continue to be drawn upon. This is why David was declared to be a man after God’s own heart. Can the same be said of us? Perhaps we need the hardest day in our lives?