An Hour of Learning

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name.’” -John 12: 27 - 28a

We are in that hour.
As a staff we have been attacked, we are being attacked. Fatigue is the monster of the hour. It lurked in our weekends, and sucked at our return. It has stolen our energy and made off with our strength. Its the horror of the beast that makes it worst. We grab every moment of rest, of sleep and are met with more yawning, more falling eyes, more tired muscles, screaming at us to just let them rest, let them collapse where they are, whether that be grass, gravel, or pavement, in the sun or the shade, to just be still.

What do we say? Do we ask God to restore us to our strength? 

How freaking lame.

Our strength is waning or even depleted. We can ask for it back or...

Stop thinking about our issues. Because for this purpose we have come to this hour.  We are fast approaching the point when we can take no credit for anything because we have no more ability to do anything. I love this point! The fantastic knowledge that anything good is God working through us. God working in us! Think about that. 

Herein lies the faith within the summer. 

On our dedication night we talked about God’s call to be here this summer being enough, point blank. He brought us all here with a purpose and when we get caught up in all our weariness or irritation we are actually mocking God’s purpose, so forget it all.

Take my strength God, I don't want it hindering yours. Take my life, my energy, my pride and leave only You. You are the best work. The best gift. The best thing. 

Every morning get up and acknowledge your issues, then make a decision every moment for the rest of the day to forget them, lay them aside. We are eternal souls in temporary shells. The shell does not control us, we owe it nothing. We are concerned solely with God and He has set us up perfectly to blow the socks off of this summer for Him. 

Anyone can see our failure. We can spot it in ourselves and in others so instead of dwelling on it, shift focus. The more attention we give a problem, the more power we give it, an undue power, because we serve and live in the power of God, and nothing is bigger or better or stronger than Him.

So... shift focus. How?

When we think about tired we are, focus on the fact you can walk, or that you are not deathly ill. Or, better yet, imagine that the person next to you feels even worse, whether they look it or not (some people are fantastic actors) and find a way to encourage them.

When we think about how little time we have in the grand scheme of these campers lives and decide to settle for giving them just a fun time, break the session down to minutes (about 8,000 on a one week session and 18,000 in a two week). Now think of significant, life altering moments you’ve had in our life and those you could fit into that time frame. I've had conversations or read a notes that took five minutes or less and it changed things. 

Finally, just assume (safely) that you are blessed. Assume that even the tough stuff is a magnificent alternative to something that God’s grace is saving us from. We serve a God of unending Grace. Let’s not get high on ourselves and forget how great God is, beyond even a fragment of comprehension. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. How untrusting to think that He does not have a perfect plan in our success as well as our struggles. I was reminded the other day that we are "being made into glory". Its a hard fought process. 

Finally, pray. Pray and talk to God when we want to rant or complain to ourselves. Pray in your walk between classes. Pray with your kids at rest hour. Pray and thank God. The best way to abide in Grace is to live in gratitude. We do have so much (so much, so much, so much) to be thankful for. 

Read This Too! He speaks better than I could hope to.