Labor

“… but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… “ (1 Corinthians 15:51b-52a).

In a twinkling. Twinkling. One moment. Changed. If I am there in that moment, sins that I have wrestled with for years would disappear. The doubts and fears resolved. Pride erased. Stumbles no more. Perfection and sanctification achieved. New body. No tears.

All I have struggled against for years—in one moment. Twinkling of an eye.

Lord, you can change me. Change my heart. Change the other. Change the circumstance. In the twinkling of an eye. And you will.

But.

Jacob loved Rachel. How much do you love me? Fourteen years. Each drawing water from the well for the sheep, “I love you” soared through the sinews. Each shearing, “I love you” garnered up muscles. Each hauling food for the sheep, “I love you,” took weight off the heavy load. Each step in the dusty ground after a long day, “I love you” gave new life.

And Leah? How much do you love me? One night of trickery.

“And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all” (Gen. 33:1-2).

The servants up front—concubines thrown in with the wives.

Then Leah—I didn’t work for you, I don’t love you.

Rachel—my precious wife who I labored for.

"The Meeting of Jacob and Raachel" by William Dyce

Fourteen years of persevering love. Fourteen years crowned Rachel. Fourteen years stamped significance. Fourteen years, an evaluation of value. Fourteen years granted her glory in Jacob’s eyes.

Perseverance. It honors God—I hope in your promises. I trust. I walk by your way, not my own way. Instincts scream. Logic speaks. Wisdom wails. Heart cries. Counsel collides. All that is in us may veer toward self-protection, standing up for ourselves, saving that money, spending time in this way instead of God’s way, taking the shortcut, giving in to the sin-fight that is too hard…. But instead, we trust. Honor. Your way, my King.

Perseverance—it glorifies God. What are we truly willing to work for? The amount of time/energy/effort we put in shows value. We save up a long time for a diamond ring and we value that. Costume jewelry is cheap and something we can buy quickly. But the costume jewelry finds a home in the trash can in a year or so. Our perseverance in the long term shows God as more valuable than our instant gratification, than the quick fix, than our own devices.

Perseverance--a cry of love for God.

A labor of love—perseverance. In those long nights of pain, “I love you.” In the years of unanswered prayer, “I love you.” In the moments of I just want to escape and take the quick fix, cave in to that longing, addiction, whatever, “I love you.”

Each step of our own journey in the dusty ground of a fallen world, “I love you.” And the quiet footprints of perseverance that fade from our memory—these, these are etched. Ripples fan out, unseen tremors through the dusty terrain, down into the heart, up into the heavenlies, spirit-waves like sound waves we cannot see, that triumph to the fallen and righteous spirits and angels, “He is worthy. I will persevere. I love him.”

I love you.