Recently I attended a barbell class at my local gym. We were doing power presses in rapid succession and, with the music blaring and the teacher encouraging us to more, I began to laugh like a maniac.
Thoughts raced through my mind as I pumped the bar over my head and continued to laugh: What are we doing? Will I be able to lift anything later? Am I enjoying this? Who am I?
With my weak arms up in the air, I thought of Moses whose hands grew tired while he raised them to the Lord (see Exodus 17:12), and I thought of how his family and friends, Aaron and Hur, helped him when he was tired. Together they were able to persevere and the Israelites won the battle.
The Christian life is a battle, and a much harder one than a 5:30am workout. Constantly we are bombarded by the evil one and I am quite certain that it is the living Word of God Who acts as our Aaron and Hur, supporting us when we grow weary, training us in righteousness, and equipping us for every good work. (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17.)
Jesus wants us to “pray always without becoming weary” (Luke 18:1) and when I am speechless, desperate, or overwhelmed it is almost always Scripture that I lean on. "I believe, help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) "Lord, have mercy." (Psalm 57:2) "Hail Mary, full of grace." (Luke 1:41) "Give us our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)
Some things in life will rattle us, but they will never be too much for Scripture.
This talk about prayer without ceasing by the founder of a monastery in Italy offers so many nuggets of wisdom on how to live this way.
Bonnie Engstrom is a writer, baker, speaker, and homemaker. She lives with her husband and eight children in Illinois. Bonnie is the author of "61 Minutes to a Miracle" which tells the story of her son's miracle that was approved by Pope Francis for the beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen. She likes to bake, putz about the yard, and tell her kids to tidy the house. She is the author of the Blessed Conversations Mystery: Believe study found here and a contributing author to our Advent devotional book, All the Generations. You can find out more about her here.