[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during July 2026]
All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest.
Ecclesiastes 2 v23 [NIVUK]
We have all, at some time or another, had the experience of lying awake when we want to be in the land of Nod. Sleep eludes us, to be replaced by persistent worries or mental gymnastics beyond our daytime capabilities; our only consolation is that we are not sharing the experiences described by the Lord Chancellor in ‘Iolanthe’.[1] Even Job started to lose his patience:
I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.
Job 3 v26 [NIVUK]
As 2024 disappears into the dusty archives of time and last week’s resolutions are rapidly following the same fate, what can we do to usefully fill the next 11 months before Christmas comes around again? It is said that idle hands do the devil’s work so how can we work for God instead? The apostle Paul shared some ideas: