mortarfied

Have you ever taken on more than you can handle? I sure have!

I ran into the lumber store to get a small bag of mortar. They don’t come in small bags, so I grabbed a 60 lb. behemoth. A shopping cart would have been helpful, but I was in a hurry.

I got in line to check out. The guy in front of me had two pushcarts full of lumber. Meanwhile, my load kept trying to find the floor.

8 grueling minutes later I made it to the register. With one arm, I somehow slipped my wallet and charge card out and signed my name on the device. The arm with the mortar went numb.

The cashier then asked if there would be anything else. I said, “Well could you put this in one of those plastic bags for me? She looked at me in disbelief and sadly nodded “no.”

I should have gotten a cart – I know, but I have always been a stubborn do-it-all-yourself kind of guy. I don’t need a person or a buggy to lighten my load. I’m all that I need.

This goofiness even slips into my relationship with God at times. When a tough problem comes, I YouTube it to death and then work harder and longer until it’s resolved.

I could have cited the apostle Paul as my example. He admitted in 2 Thessalonians 3:8, “In toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you.”

He sowed Gospel seeds during the day and sewed tents by night. His night gig produced income so that he could be financially self-sufficient as a minister. Paul seems like the poster child for people like me.

BUT, I did a concordance search on that phrase “night and day” and I found that Paul was also busy doing something else. He wrote to Timothy, “I remember you in my prayers as I do constantly night and day.” – 2 Timothy 1:3

It was his habit to pray night and day, reaching out to God, realizing that his strenuous and best efforts in ministry were less than sufficient to get the job done.

After all, it was Jesus who said, “Apart from me, you can accomplish nothing.” – John 15:5

OK, but how does our effort interface with the power of God our behalf?

Consider this. I was a sophomore in high school trying out for the varsity football team. The coach had us doing a drill where one blocker, had to fend off one tackler, and do it well enough to let a running back get by.

It was my turn, and I trembled as I faced an all-city senior. My 165 lbs. wasn’t going to be enough to block his 260.

The coach said “go” and I exploded into my opponent – which turned out to be a dud. He stood me up and stopped me flat.

The running back, however, did not hesitate. He got behind me, put his head in my back and added his strength to mine without missing a step. He blasted us both out of the way and I had succeeded. The guy had been blocked.

I could not have done it without that auxiliary power that was added to mine. And yet I was also crucial to the plan. If I had not been doing my part, the back would have gotten nailed.

So it is with God. We have our responsibilities in this life, and we need to give them our very best effort while at the same time we reach out to the Lord. We seek His infusion of strength and wisdom and at times His direct intervention for success.

The mortar to this story – – I mean – – moral to this story is this. “Work hard – pray hard.” Day and night if you must.

A PRAYER: Lord open my eyes to those times when I am straining to do what you want to do for me.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Scripture references are from the NETBible ®

mortified