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.
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