Lent Day 25: Only 12 hours in a day?
"I wish I had a few more hours in the day."
I heard that last week and thought to myself, "I don't want more time. I'd just fill it up and feel more tired."
Let's start with some background to affirming each day's limits as healthy and God-ordained.
Jesus has the power to ward off all suffering - yet he allows his friends to experience challenges and sorrows; he lives through those with them. Here's what happens when Jesus' friend falls deathly ill. (John 11)
Now a man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’
> Jesus knows what he's come to do - yet he responds with emotion and tenderness to his friends.
> He does the work of his Father, in the way the Father leads him ... no matter how strange that may seem to others.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’
> Jesus loves them so he holds back healing and help? What's that about? Have you ever felt like God didn't show up when he could have "saved the day" or limited your suffering? Mary and Martha know exactly how that feels.
> The disciples can't understand why Jesus is going into a dangerous situation. Wouldn't it be better to avoid conflict, even if that is hard on his friends or family? Isn't it a priority to be safe, more important than being present?
‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’
> Jesus understands their anxiety and reassures them. When I first read Jesus' response, it transformed my work-life balance.
> Here is the Messiah, who has come to save the world, change all of history, and reconcile humanity to God. Yet he's not running here or there, frantically trying to squeeze more activities into 24-hour days. He is confident that God is not only powerful enough to carry out his purposes, but that God is also in control of time and energy.
> We'll get back to the story of Lazarus tomorrow. But first, what shocked me when I read it two decades ago was this: Jesus says 12 hours of daylight is enough for him to accomplish the work of God.
> We don't read that he regularly toiled all night by candlelight or lantern. (Note that the Pharisee Nicodemus snuck off to see him one night - John 3).
> So why do we feel obligated to work 14-18 hour shifts, skipping food, rest, and social interaction to work longer? Is our work more important than the work of God's son? Are we responsible for saving the world? Nope.
> Jesus doesn't shirk the plans God has for Lazarus. He doesn't avoid the persecution coming in Jerusalem. He doesn't say, "I'm tired. Help yourself," or "I don't care enough to get more work done." Rather, he lives a measured and thoughtful life.
Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the day-time will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.
> How much time do you need each day to do what God's calling you to do? Do you need more than 12 hours? If so, examine what you have crammed into your life or family routines or a job that doesn't belong in God's schedule. What would happen if you pared back on fulfilling others' expectations of you - and did only the work of God?
> God is counting on his children to show love, justice, and compassion for the world. And he will give each of us the capacity to do everything he asks - in the time he has given us.
