By Daniel Garner
"And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation" - Romans 5: 4
"These are the times that try men's soul" - Thomas Paine, "The American Crisis"
Despite everything that you've probably been taught in grade school about George Washington, he more than likely didn't chop down his father's cherry tree. So he probably didn't do the whole "I cannot tell a lie!" spiel. But a lot of people still retell the story again and again because it's a perfect display of George Washington's honesty. And, equally honestly, it's still a really fun story to tell!
So, speaking of tales, here's one I remember reading when I was a little boy: "One day, Jenny asked her mother, "Mom, do people who never tell lies go to heaven?" "Yes", her mother answered, "they are the only ones." "Gosh," Jenny said. "I bet it gets lonesome up there with just God and George Washington!"
So, needless to say sometimes it's easy to lose perspective on things in life!
From something so simple as misunderstanding how people get to Heaven like her or something catastrophic in our own lives like a death or bankruptcy. Sometimes (at times to often) things don't go our way and we start to think about how life is out to get us. There are times where I definitely feel this way and I start to berate myself and compare my life to others'. It's natural to do that, but not helpful by any means.
Full disclosure: I'm a huge history geek. So waking up in the middle of night and cracking open one of my (far to many) centuries old history books is not (to) unusual. One of them was about George Washington and his leadership tactics. I read this quote from it by a Soldier on the way to Valley Forge during the American Revolutionary War:
"It is fearfully cold and raw...and a snowstorm is setting in. It will be a very a terrible night for the Soldiers who have no shoes"
Seriously, not even shoes? There's some perspective! Here's another one that George Washington himself wrote to his wife, Martha:
"You could have tracked the Army from White Marsh to Valley Forge by the blood of their feet". Even Washington was concerned about their state and expressing his concerns about the insurmountable obstacles of his downtrodden Soldiers faced.
It's easy to get wrapped up in life. There's going to be more times than we'd care to admit where we want to just give in and never get out of bed. It's times like that where it's good to remind ourselves of those brave Soldiers who marched bleeding and barefoot for our ability and freedom to not get out of he'd if we don't want to. Like them, we're all warriors in our own right. Our battlefield can be our work, our homes or even our own minds. But our God is a God of strength and He lends it freely if we but ask.
The Takeaway: Remember! The strong carry on until the morning. Strength endures, will perseveres and most importantly: Faith manages!