I remember hauling hay as a child, and by that I mean small square bales moved by hand, not using a tractor to move big round bales. This was the way my father made ends meet and kept us housed, clothed and fed. I helped. I drove the truck and helped unload in the barn. I remember days when we'd get to the field and it would be overwhelming. There must be close to a thousand bales of hay there, I'd think. You could get tired just looking at it, so we didn't look long. I'd hear Dad take a breath, and then he'd say, let's hit it. We'd start, looking only at what we needed to do now, not keeping track of everything . It wasn't we have 800 bales of hay left. It was we need 50 for this load, keep a good count. Everything came down to the load we were working on at the moment, and when that was done, one more load. With that I can do one more load mentality, we'd slowly be surely work our way through the hay until the it was nearly all transferred from the field to the barn. And the funny thing was that often, I felt lighter, more energized as the number dwindled than at the start. Hours of work behind me and hundreds of bales of hay moved, I should have been exhausted, and sometimes I was. But often I felt much more ready to go at that point than at the start, before the work began and the energy was spent.
That's not so strange. It's Fred Flinstone flying home at the work whistle, it's our feeling like we're coming alive on Friday. It's the work being done, even with the energy to do it spent, verses the sight of all that must be done. Oh, this week I need to do this and this and that. Even if there is enough time to do it all, which it seems there never is, just looking at it all can be so exhausting. There are sayings like a trip of a thousand miles begins with one step, because looking at having to walk a thousand miles may make us give up before we even begin, but one step at a time will eventually get us there. Well, that is it will if we keep going and the destination is somewhere you can reach on foot. One step at a time will never make it possible to walk from California to Hawaii. Trying will only get you drowned or turn you into shark food.
And life can feel like that sometimes. Like a never ending Monday. We can look out over the field of our future and just see so much that has to be done, the many weights that must be moved, all the work that is still be done and feel the energy drain away. There's so much to do that we may not even know where or how to begin. And the standard that we instinctively need to meet is beyond our reach. Why bother? Why even try? What's the point? Grumble and complain, because there is no way, no hope, life is hard and the goal can never be reached. It never ends. As soon as one thing is moved we look up and there are still hundred of things to be done. I just want to go back to bed.
But life doesn't have to feel that way. The great news is that the work that needs to be done to make us who we were created to be, to give us relationship with Daddy and purpose in life, has already been done. The long list that must be done perfectly that we could never ever complete, no matter how hard we try, has been done. Sure there are still some spiritual hay bales out there, there is work that is still to be done. We have not yet seen the manifestation of the finished work. But our lives, our success or failure, our worth, are not based on how well we do the work that is left to do. Our everything is based on the work that has already been done on our behalf.
The spiritual Mondays don't have to overwhelm and exhaust. Because the rest of our lives can be a spiritual Friday. Sure, there is still a little work to be done, but we can do it with energy and a light spirit because we know the end of the week is coming, the worst is behind us and already done by Jesus, and no matter how rough it may get, nothing can stop the weekend from coming. We don't have so much to do that we can't see getting it done or failing because Jesus did it. Our acceptance is based on His work, not our own. And no matter how rough and hard this life gets, it's temporary, but because of Christ, when this temporary suffering and struggle is done, the permanent time in Daddy's presence will begin, and the toil of this moment will be like a forgotten blip.
I can look at the wreckage of the past that needs to be cleaned up, the many relationship bridges yet to be rebuilt, the thousands of steps that must be taken to become a contributing member of society and the weight of a lifetime doing things the right way without the drugs or the alcohol or the comfort food or the [insert favorite wrong solution here] and just think it can't be done. Or I can simply trust in the work that He has done on my behalf, surrender to His will and care, take the one step in front of me, work on the one load that is now, and relax knowing the heavy lifting is already done. And in that resting on His work, and staying in the now, I can go through each moment, doing the work that He needs me to do by His power, staying free, staying joyful in anticipation of the rest and the understanding success is already assured, staying a light in the darkness, loving Daddy and loving others, for a lifetime. One moment at a time, walking with Jesus, we will look back as see a field empty and all that needed to be done, including the impossible, done. And knowing that truth can keep us in the now, give us a life worth living and energize us and fill us with joy every day, even Mondays.
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