the iron rod

I heard of a story where two people were fasting together. Perhaps they went camping for the weekend to be away from the distractions of life. Lets imagine they were fasting for a long time. Lets call them John, who is the father and Tom. Now, it was coming to the end of the fast and they just had 2 hours left to fast and then they'd pray and after all that, they'd have something to eat.
So, 10mins into the prayer Tom is starting to see stars and feel light headed. He then sits down to pray to prevent himself from fainting. His father realises what happens, his response is to tell Tom that this is an important time and he should stand and keep going. That he also feels tired but they just have to go all out. Tom communicated that he'll faint if they continue but his father takes no for an answer and then stands next to Tom to keep him standing.
A few minutes later, Tom passes out...
Luckily, his father was standing next to him so no damage none. i.e. he didnt hit his head on the ground etc.
So Tom eventually wakes, and feels like there's no air and feels hot etc. His father continues praying and Tom is making sense of what just happens and probably waits for his dad to finish praying so that he can get a drink.
Praying done... Tom starts to stand but his knees feel like jelly and his body is a little shaky, he decides to crawl to the tap to drink. His father sees him doing this then decides to carry him to the tap. Tom drinks, finds some bread and then just wants to sleep/rest his body.

The next day his dad asks him how he feels and he says he feels fine. His dad then asks him if he was upset that they didnt get to finish the fasting and praying well. Tom is shocked. And makes the conclusion, form his fathers comment, that his father didnt really care about him fainting, he wasnt up set about him fainting, instead, he was upset that they didnt finish in the manner in which he calls "well". and perhaps resented Tom for fainting because he spoiled his dads plans.


In cases like this it makes me wonder why we deal with people like this. With a rod of iron and not with love. I am always amazed by the example given, that it is always better to be at peace or reconcilled with a brother first then to approach God. To leave your ideas of what is perhaps "holy" and persue love Matt5:22