Stay Alive, Working Adults

Disclaimer: This is not my post. It is from my mentor Yeo Yeu Ann.

[Just a heads-up to let you know that this is going to be a looooong post. But if you're a young working adult who's trying to stay alive after an exhausting week of work... then this post is for you (if you don't fall asleep halfway haha).]
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Recently, some friends have been asking me how can I sustain 6 hours of sleep every day even on weekends. At first, I felt a bit annoyed, wondering what's your business with me asking me how many hours of sleep I get, if I don't fall asleep in front of you, and so on. (Sorry lah...)

But one friend corrected me: "[They're] just pretty astonished by your limitless energy."

Was stunned to hear that. But in retrospect, it does make more sense now why I have had other friends asking me how is it that I can serve God so much, and yet not grow tired after all these years.

So, my secret is... prayer.

Prayer. I pray in the morning, and I pray at night. I spend about half an hour to 1 or even 2 hours a night to pray till 1 or 2 am. No, I don't wake up early to pray. God - and pretty much everyone else - knows how much I struggle to wake up on time. I'm no poster boy for time-management or good sleep management. But ... I can stay up late to pray. That, by God's grace, I do.

And when I do NOT pray... I feel the physical difference greatly. I get much more tired. My sleep quality suffers. I can try to sleep 8 hours, yet the rest is not there. I get crankier, and somehow, the coffee's not quite as blessed as I'd hoped for.

Psalm 127:1-2
"Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves."

And this is not unique to me. I've seen those who labour and spend much time in prayer likewise full of physical energy. They can meet up with people, they spend a lot of time in ministry, they work a lot, they even go travelling a lot for missions and so on... yet there is scarcely a hint of lethargy about them.

Why is this so?

The secret is prayer.

I've learnt from the examples of others in church - like Pastor Simon Eng for example - to pray, and pray some more, and then sleep. Haha... "For He grants sleep to those He loves."

I won't make a doctrine out of this, but if you notice, you see how God empowered various people in the Bible with supernatural physical strength or ability. Samson lifting up an entire city gate, Elijah outrunning a chariot, Moses not eating or even _drinking_ 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain... or Mary being a virgin... or Abraham etc. Surely Scripture is replete with all sorts of physical miracles and manifestations of providence and sustenance.

I think Caleb, that 85-year-old uncle of Israel who chose to keep his faith in God together with Joshua, when all the rest gave up and said it was physically impossible to win the war against the stronger Canaanites, said it so well:

“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then."

Even in modern times, I have heard first-hand from an elderly pastor who has had FIVE strokes - yet he is standing so strong before me, washing vegetables, and declaring to me with bold faith (and a strong voice) that if the Lord wants him to keep on serving Him, nothing can stop him! I mean, one stroke can... two wah lau... three jialat... but _five_? Totally has to be God. Only God can turn this uncle into a Terminator.  And there are many other visible role models of physically weak people sustained with amazing stamina and strength!

Therefore we should not be surprised when His spiritual power is made manifest in our lives in physical ways. We can't segregate the living God of heaven and earth from His own creation after all! "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool..."

*pause*

I write this, because in the working world, I have seen that one of the greatest obstacles that drag even the most enthusiastic fresh graduates down is that of tiredness, pure and simple. Believe me, I've seen fresh idealistic graduates jump out into the beaches of the working world, hoping to impact the world for Christ... only to get mowed down by the worries and concerns of life. They become more and more tired, and eventually many burn out and leave. I have seen all these with my own eyes, as one who is 30+ years old.

And I've seen many people not only older, but also _younger_ than me, letting their physical weaknesses become a reason for them to insist on not going for LG. Or for service. Or to stop for the one in need. Or to serve in ministry. Or even to take time to pray and read the Bible.

Friends, I am NOT putting down those who are sick and tired and weary. Christ is full of compassion and wants to heal us. I'm just saying... we need to enter God's presence so much more often, whether it's in fellowship, or prayer, or studying His Word, or in worship.

Indeed, we need to trust Him that when we choose to enter His presence, we will also receive the physical sustenance that He gives us. We take time to rest intentionally... but we must find rest in the Lord above all. Trust not in sleep, but trust in the tender arms of the Father who grants sleep to those whom He loves.

After all, was it not the Lord Jesus Himself who rebutted Satan's temptation to satisfy his physical needs - hungry and tired though He was? "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Believe you me, as one who is already over 30, I do know what is it like to endure the physical tiredness of the working world. I honestly tell God every morning and evening, "I'm so tired, Lord..." C'mon, I've served in children's ministry for 6 years... and now I serve in Tuition with Love, and homeless ministry every week... I walk long distances many times, and I have to deal with overly energetic young boys. I just thank God that I'm not a parent, otherwise I'd be dropping dead from exhaustion already.

But somehow, somehow, I find His grace and peace sustaining me in so many ways in every single day. That's why I can identify so much with what Paul wrote: "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:28-29) Yes, I find, at the moment when He calls me to stop for the one in need or to go for fellowship or to take time to pray, He gives me supernatural strength far beyond what human reason would normally see.

"He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase..."

I write all these because I don't want my younger brothers and sisters to get bogged down out of sheer exhaustion at the edge of the beach, even before they have begun to fight the good fight.

No, on the contrary, we shall raise our hands to the Lord, and discover the glorious truth that He indeed is the Creator of the ends of the earth, and He will not grow tired or weary; indeed His knowledge none can fathom. Indeed, He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;

they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not be faint.

Do you believe this, dear friends? You MUST believe this, for this is what the Lord Himself has said.

Indeed, I find His energy even now flowing so strongly through me to write all these words - even at the end of a long week that was filled with late nights - I even went for a long supper AND a walk till 3 am with a dear friend on Monday! Yet the Lord has sustained me, because I took time to pray.

So then, dear friends, let's stop telling ourselves that we are too tired to serve the Lord. That we are too tired to go for fellowship or service. That we are too tired to spend intentional time with our families. That we are too tired to love, to say something kind, etc. No, no, no. His grace is always there to lift us up and soar above the surly bonds of earth on laughter-filled wings. Not our strength, but HIS strength.

The fact is, I'm far from perfect. I'm not even worthy, because I'm such a poor manager of my own time.

Yet if God can graciously give even someone as poorly disciplined as me so much physical energy each day to work, to serve, to meet up people till late at night, to do ministry and volunteer work on the weekends...

... then how much more He can bless YOU, dear friends, you who are much more mature in time management and self-discipline than me, with all the energy and power and grace that you need to do your work and serve Him with joy!

So friends, let us look no longer to our own strength and ability, but let us trust and rest in His loving strength, in His unlimited power today. 

Psalm 147:10-11
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.