“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” ~ Galatians 6:9-10
What causes us to grow weary? WAITING! Tom Petty released a song in the early 80’s called “The Waiting”. In the chorus, he says, “The waiting is the hardest part.”
When we’re young, we know that our birthday and Christmas will come every year. We wait…with anticipation, with expectation, and even pre-disappointment. The closer each annual benevolent out pouring of goodness from friends and family gets, the harder it is to wait. At a very early age, I would get so amped up that I would begin listening more intently to my parents conversations, snoop around for clues and even check my mom’s favorite hiding spots as the day would draw near.
I don’t know about you, but too many holidays as a child reaped more disappointment in what I didn’t get than what I did. I began to grow weary of those days, and not wanting to be disappointed and discouraged again I put up a wall of disenchantment, indifference and insensitivity into my adult years. Even now, I struggle with the whole holiday gift giving, receiving, exchange process. I’m not a child any more, so I don’t wait with that naive eagerness, nor do I have any expectations. It’s just another day for me. I have to work real hard to come up with gift ideas for my wife and kids.
If there were never another holiday to celebrate, I would be ok with that. Thankfully, when I found Christ, I realized no other gift, no other expectation and absolutely no earthly harvest could compare. It is that, I am comforted, content and satisfied. Christ turned my weariness into confidence. Unlike most people, I don’t wait with earnest, eagerness and wonder for the day He returns. I just trust with confidence it will come and I have work to do until it does.
Many relationships fall apart because of the “WAITING”. Waiting for him to pop the questions after a long courtship; waiting for God to change or fix that spouse; waiting for that loved one to come to or back to Christ; waiting for a promise; waiting for a promotion; waiting for a raise; we are constantly waiting for some type of expected harvest; waiting for the manifestation of God’s call, vision and purpose He sowed into your spirit.
Two key things jump out at me in Galatians 6:9-10… “DO GOOD” and “DON’T QUIT”! If all we do is wait, hope and expect without any action, we do it in vain. This creates too much idleness and anxiety, which breeds doubt. The result most often drives us to do something foolish, like make poor business decisions, over extend our finances and create debt, or make an emotional life impacting change without a well thought out plan.
Instead of allowing the waiting to consume our emotions, I want to encourage us, especially during this upcoming holiday season, to redirect that energy to “DOING GOOD” and “REFUSING TO QUIT”. When we are doing good for others, meeting them in their affliction and giving them hope for their future, we become fully focused on them instead of our circumstance. In turn, we are distracted from our own shortcomings that we don’t realize our weariness has dissipated.
Opportunity to “DO GOOD” is all around us. We don’t have to look hard or travel far. Often times, we just need to open our eyes, ears, hearts and wallet. As we go doing good in the daily rhythms of our lives, become very intentional to create a posture and attitude of “DON’T QUIT”. When we do, the very thing we’ve been waiting for will come into our lives. The funny thing is that it rarely comes as we were expecting, but always how God intended it.
Be encouraged. Don’t grow weary. Do good and above all…”DON’T QUIT”!
James Miller Jr
“Missionary to a Generation”
*Published in the November 20th, 2014 issue of the Port Aransas South Jetty newspaper.
via “Don’t Grow Weary” – Grace Church of Port Aransas.
