Tired no more

Every morning I rise pretty early. I have always been a morning person. I awake and jump up, fully alert. Some people begin the day like 100 meter sprinters. Explode out of bed and race down the morning track, all systems go from the starter’s gun. I am one of these people normally. Other people begin the day like 5000 meter runners. Lope out of bed and pace themselves, as if on autopilot for a while with systems gradually coming on line. My wife is one of these people. It’s not wrong…it’s just different!

Some mornings lately, however, I have dragged out of bed, complaining in my heart, longing for more sleep, asking the weather gods to bestow a snow day (Odin! Odin! LOL). Reminds me of the months on chemotherapy. I was so tired I got dressed twice one day to go to work, and both times was totally worn out and had to lie down. Chemo does that to you. Or other days when I was depressed. I didn’t want to get up. I didn’t want to go to work. I saw no hopeful future. I only wanted to lie down. I watched the entire “Tour de France” on TV. I watched the Olympic women’s marathon, and then the men’s marathon. That is 2+ hours, people, lying there, watching TV.

So, several mornings this week, I rose early but was forcing myself out of habit to do what I know is good for me. I fell asleep twice one day! Two other mornings, I struggled to get going. Went through the motions of personal hygiene, coffee making, dressing, and found myself somewhat awake after a while. So while sitting in that favorite rocking chair by the fireplace, I forced myself to read the Bible and tried hard to attend to the words. I am reading through Hebrews this week.

Have you ever read an article or book and a phrase just jumped off the page, grabbed you by the throat as if to scream “Pay attention to this!” That’s what happened two mornings ago. I was on autopilot but not paying total attention until I got to these words in Hebrews 11:

“…he as good as dead.”

You see, Abraham and Sarah had given up hope. They were too old to have children. No one had children at their age. The odds were stacked against them. Years before, as the story goes, God had promised to bless Abraham and make him into a great nation (Genesis 12). I imagine Abraham and Sarah had given up their dream of a family.

By this point, I was totally awake, my thoughts racing, as I read this saying “By faith, Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him [God] faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:11-12).”

Abraham and Sarah got to live the promise, a promise which still lives today. God chose one family and from them birthed a nation, which still exists thousands of years later. I consider the continuous existence and survival of the Jews to be a clear proof of God’s existence and God’s faithfulness to keep His promises.

Even today, anti-Semitism exists and reminds that every attempt to eradicate the Jews has failed. Cruel dictators, brutal diasporas, European pogroms, heartless political decrees, death camps, vile lies, all have failed to exterminate the most resilient people on the face of the earth: the sons and daughters of Abraham. Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead and GOD GAVE THEM CHILDREN.

Through the children of Abraham, God has blessed the world. Jesus Christ was one of the children of Abraham. I am a Gentile grafted in the Jewish vine of God’s family to be a child of Abraham. So, when there was no hope for the Jews, they longed for Messiah and hoped to return to Jerusalem. When I am tired and tempted to lose all hope, I pray to my Jewish Messiah, Jesus, and thank God that I am a child of Abraham, and part of the covenant keeping God’s family. ©2010 Ray Woolridge