Peace in the race

 

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,  and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. - Hebrews 12:12-13

 

Sometimes the race can get really wearying. Times like 2020 are beating us down. Our shoulders can be slumped, we are getting weak in the days and we may be tempted to just lie down and quit.

I’ve been reading and listening to a podcast about Earnest Shackleton, the Irishman and Kildare man who led a couple of Antarctic expeditions with the ultimate goal of being the first man to the South Pole. He didn’t make it but his tales of his journeys, especially his trip on the Endurance have inspired generations.

 

They knew at one stage that there were not going to make it. The ship was stuck in an ice floe and was eventually crushed in the ice. Temperatures were far below freezing and they had near hurricane force winds. They were forced to camp in tents that eventually were torn apart and the used the lifeboats to build a sort of hut. Months went by.

 

But all during that time Shackleton knew that if he let his men get down they would die. He and the others found ways to encourage the men. They kept schedules. The planned meals together. The planned celebration times together. He insisted that one man keep his banjo so they would have music. The story is replete with examples of lifting each other up.

 

That’s kind of what we need to seek to do for each other. We are all going to get down. This has been a trying year in so many ways. We are not in persecution. We are not in real danger for the most part. Our problem this year is frustration and weariness over how life has changed because of the virus. Most of us have been basically out of church for months. We can’t get together. We can’t fellowship. We are forced to wait it out.

We need each other now more than ever. We need to pick ourselves up and then pick each other up. We need to stay on track as time goes by. We need to all become encouragers now more than ever.