In 1987-1988 Glad Tidings Pentecostal church in Moncton New Brunswick was being built. We had outgrown our old church at 1212 Mountain Rd, so the church purchased a large lot of land further up Mountain Rd where a new church would be built. To cut down on labour costs, many of the people of the church would do some of the 'grunt' work so the professionals wouldn't have to take up their time with it.
One particular grunt job was moving a huge amount of cinder blocks from one area to another. The men of the church got together to tackle this project one Saturday. My father and 'old' Ned Blakeney were two of the older men who were part of the team. Dad said that Ned, being the older man, set the pace for he and Dad. They would take one cinder block in each hand and walk to the next area, then return for another two more and so on and so on. Never any less and never any more.
When the younger men saw the older men's pace and the fact that they only carried two blocks at a time, they laughed and joked with them. They teased and poked fun and proceeded to show off by having lifting contests to see how many each of them could carry. They would toss the heavy blocks to each other and would try to hurry from room to room with their load. All this time Dad and Ned kept on walking, kept on carrying the same load, kept on doing the job.
When lunch time came, Ned and Dad sat down and had their sandwiches and tea. When they got up to start on the job again, they realized that they had lost many of the men who were working with them in the morning and that the ones who were left were complaining about sore muscles and being tired. Not discouraged that they were losing their work force, Ned and Dad kept on walking, kept on working. At the end of the day, you guessed it, Dad and Ned were the only two left and the job was finished.
This lesson that my father taught me by example has stayed with me ever since. A job only seems like work if you are stressed out or rushing at it. Usually you don't get any more done than if you were pacing yourself and in fact sometimes you can actually achieve less because rushing and hurrying can produce mistakes which make the work have to be redone.
I once heard this analogy: "how do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time." Sometimes in our busy lives we can feel like our 'to do' list is a mile long, but just like that elephant we need to tackle it one job at a time and before long we will gain on it and actually conquer it. When we are overwhelmed by life or what is facing us, we should turn to the Lord and ask for His help. He will guide us and help us. Then we need to step back and look at the situation, and start doing what we have to do, one step at a time, keep moving, keep walking. Don't ever give up. Don't ever quit.
Many, many years later we had an opportunity to visit 'old' Ned Blakeney, who truly was quite old at this time and he fondly remembered the day that he and Dad out worked the younger men of the church. Maybe his pace and his wise thinking were two of the reasons why he did live so long, who knows? But when it came to a job to be done, he had the right idea.
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
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