Wisdom Loves “Hump Day.”

One of my favorite current commercials features a large camel walking into an office building enthusiastically asking employees, “What day is it?!”  He thrills, even to the unenthusiastic response by one of the workers who mumbles, “It’s Hump Day.” The camel, obviously pleased with “his” day shouts, “Hump Day! Yeah!!”

Wednesday has often been tagged “hump day” because it’s smack dab in the middle of the week. The thinking is often that until “hump day,” the week is an uphill battle, but on Wednesday the weekend is in sight. There is hope. We must simply persevere through the next couple of days to get to something better.

Wisdom loves “hump day” because wisdom perseveres, and wisdom hopes for something better. We must go through the “Mondays and Tuesdays” that are difficult and repetitive in order to find hope.

What are your (figurative) Mondays and Tuesdays before “hump day”—those times that are hard and you feel tempted to quit?

Quit serving. Quit caring. Quit trying. Quit reaching out. Quit praying. Quit making progress.

My “Mondays and Tuesdays” come when caretaking feels really hard and sad. When a vast amount of reading and writing homework awaits. When I must drive to meet someone for an appointment and the temperature is below zero. When the snow hasn’t shoveled itself. When I sit down to pray but don’t feel like God is being a very good friend. When I need to exercise, but I’m tired. When I know I should reach out, but fear disappointment.

I think I’m not alone. We all have many days which require plain ol’ perseverance. In fact, there can really be no meaningful perseverance until we want to quit, right? Otherwise, we are just doing what we want to do.

Hebrews 10 contains some of my favorite crash-through-the-quitting-places verses:

  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,…
 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive     what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:232-24, 36)

I love that he is faithful, I love that we can encourage and be encouraged. I love that God has given me a sure promise.

One of Wyndham’s favorite verses on perseverance is about overcoming:  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

Wyndham is an excellent overcomer, and he has the wisdom to hold on to hope. He asked me to add this verse:

 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5)

He is confident that hope will not disappoint.

How I love hope. How I need hope.

My verse focus for the year is from Romans 15:13:  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

I count on the power of the Holy Spirit to fill me with hope. To overflow me with joy and peace…as long as I trust.

This hope is why Wyndham can stay joyful and peaceful. I know it’s the only way I can.

Hope is everything. Hope of eternal life brings peace…and joyful anticipation. It brings comfort.

As you persevere through your Mondays and Tuesdays…. remember today is “hump day”—a day to find hope. Because ultimately, Sunday’s coming. The day of resurrection.

So keep on riding. Persevere. And take hold of hope today on “hump day.”

In the words of the camel. “Hump day!!! YEAH!”