My squad and I ate breakfast at 6:30 and then traveled via the back of a pickup truck across mountains and through jungles to a remote village. The goal: to move bricks up a mountain.
We arrived at this village and were told we were the first foreigners the people had ever seen. Then we were told to line up facing one another so that we could pass thousands of bricks up to the top of the mountain. There are 52 of us plus the 40 or so villagers, how long could this take?
TEN HOURS, and we didn’t get all the bricks to the top.
Ten hours isn’t a bad work day, but in India nothing is normal. In India it is so hot it can’t be described. In India they tell you to drink 6ish liters of water a day if you aren’t moving because you sweat so much. In India the forecast says 91 but is projected to feel like 108 because of the 98% humidity. In India eight hours of work is the equivalent of an entire season of basketball practices.
(Okay, so that last statement was an exaggeration.)
My squad arrived, and we got right to work. We worked until lunch. Then we went back up after a half hour or so break, and we passed more and more bricks up the mountain. What was crazy though wasn’t what we did, it was how we handled it.
Everyone was joyful and happy. We sang praises; we prayed over the bricks; we encouraged one another, and we talked with one another. The day was a testament to what God can do. It is living proof that [we] can do anything through Christ who gives [us] strength. God sustained us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Because of God we didn’t crash midway through the day. He gave us the energy to continue tossing bricks up the mountain. He gave us what we needed physically to make it through the day. Because God sustained us we were able to do work in His name – it was not because we were physically able but because God is able.
Because of God we remained joyful throughout the day. God sustained us emotionally. He gave us a joy that cannot be explained the entire day. He made it possible for us to continue throughout the day with positive and joyful attitudes. It wasn’t because we are joyful people but because God gave us the joy so we could show the locals a portion of who He is.
God gave us everything we needed to get through the day. He sustained us. My God is a God who will give you everything you need to accomplish his work.
My God is a God who sustains us and keeps us going.
It is not me that will finish this race but it is Christ in me. And it wasn’t my squad who passed thousands of bricks up a mountain. It was Christ in us.
