Are Day's End when we have done all we can do?

At Day’s End when we have done all we can do?

There are many scenarios we could use that pertain to the end of something but, after we have exhausted our energy and drifted into a needed sleep, we may ask yourself, “what did I accomplish?

Think of the moments in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus himself was worn to the point of complete fatigue and sought some companionship from those who were with him;  When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.  He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  (Mt 26: 40 - 41).

Perhaps the stress and anxiety of a task that sucks every last bit of fortitude from us is more tiring than digging a ditch or carrying a load of building materials.  Jesus was not worn out from  laborious exertion, the knowledge that his day's end was imminent;  “My soul is sorrowful even to death.  Remain here and keep watch with me.”  He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer , saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not my will, but as you will.”   (Mt 38 - 39).

Ministry has its periods of trying our souls with hours of demands that may not resemble the Garden of Gethsemane, but will in fact try our patience or allow us to find the need to rest at a distance for the moment.  Coming off a two day trial for a deceased relative can have more than just needing sleep, it can produce some types of mental fatigue due to the emotions that affect close family ties and adds to the preparation to minister in a positive fashion.  However, when you are the one reaching out to disillusioned family members you are the last hope to let them find Christ at a time of intense exhaustion from a loss with no return.   “The times that try men’s souls.”  A quotation from Thomas Paine.  Jesus found it, Peter recognized it after the rooster crowed, St. Thomas Moore felt it as he was to be beheaded, and each of us may experience at the least a crisis that we cannot eliminate.

Human beings are not built like a machine that keeps running in spite of outside influences or stress-related occurrences.  We are composed of emotions, fears, and some failures to raise our heads above the sands of time that will take our ability to overcome an evil that promises mental destruction to the most hardened soul.

Not one of us can handle the effects of these attributes of dismay without an insider who knows best and will work to apprise us of any dilemma.  What is this insider?  The Holy Spirit!  Why then didn’t he turn the ultimate arrest and crucifixion of Jesus?  Because it wasn’t his option since the Incarnation already set the plan of God to redeem us.  Those thoughts can also  be a part of a minister's trials when days end requires more than we might have as far as our mission is concerned.  Once that period of comforting the loss of families is over, now you can rest assured that you accomplished what the Lord has called you to be for his people.

Ralph B. Hathawa