Illustration: Grace, Fatigue

In his book Grace, Max Lucado writes: "If you don't, I know the cause of your fatigue. You need to trust God's grace.

"Follow the example of the Chilean miners. Trapped beneath two thousand feet of solid rock, the thirty-three men were desperate. The collapse of a main tunnel had sealed their exit and thrust them into survival mode. They ate two spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk, and a morsel of peaches—every other day. For two months they prayed for someone to save them.

"On the surface above, the Chilean rescue team worked around the clock, consulting NASA, meeting with experts. They designed a thirteen-foot-tall capsule and drilled, first a communication hole, then an excavation tunnel. There was no guarantee of success. No one had ever been trapped underground this long and lived to tell about it.

"Now someone has.

"On October 13, 2010, the men began to emerge, slapping high fives and leading victory chants. A great-grandfather. A forty-four-year-old who was planning a wedding. Then a nineteen-year-old. All had different stories, but all had made the same decision. They trusted someone else to save them.

"No one returned the rescue offer with a declaration of independence: 'I can get out of here on my own. Just give me a new drill.' They had stared at the stone tomb long enough to reach the unanimous opinion: 'We need help. We need someone to penetrate this world and pull us out.' And when the rescue capsule came, they climbed in.

"Why is it so hard for us to do the same? We find it easier to trust the miracle of resurrection than the miracle of grace. We so fear failure that we create the image of perfection, lest heaven be even more disappointed in us than we are. The result? The weariest people on earth. Attempts at self-salvation guarantee nothing but exhaustion."