Rest for the Weary

When I first moved to college my freshman year, I was in the habit of very sporadically keeping a journal. My first entry had a very frantic feel to it. I suppose I was trying to capture the shock that I received when I first got there about the lack of commitment to Christ I saw. One of lines went something along the lines of “we are surrounded on all sides by evil forces and there are very few of us that stand for truth.” Looking back, this was probably and accurate assessment. It’s a terrible feeling of discontent.

Perhaps you’ve felt this way before. Perhaps, like Paul, you have been “poured out like a drink offering” and have nothing left. One thing every Christian will encounter in life is fatigue. Fatigue of doing good, fatigue of living the life, fatigue from the battle. Some might calls these trials and would do well to do so. James reminds us of the reason we face trials: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4 ESV) Just as lifting weights or running long distances builds up the endurance of an athlete, so do trials build up the strength of a Christian. But promise that I have been returning to here in the last month or so has been one found in Galatians 6:9: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

This is a simple Bible promise. It is the kind of promise we are called to truly believe, trust, and own. This verse was written specifically to those weary of doing good. They were fatigued Christians. So how can we unpack this promise?

Well we have to look at the end of the verse. What does God promise us if we do not tire of doing good? Quite simply the fact that we will reap. Those who sow good works and invest in the lives of others will eventually, through the power of Christ’s grace, begin to reap success and glory for Christ. The promise is that things will begin to change, in due season. But the condition is “if we do not give up.” While spiritual fatigue is a feeling that can come and go, those who persevere in good works will see a harvest. Those who not only continue to do good but who also, and most importantly, believe and trust that God will bring a harvest will see that harvest in God’s time.

But here is the key. When we put that faith and trust in the promise that we will reap, we are not called to find our joy principally in the thing harvested or in our success. We are to hope for the reward of a harvest that brings more glory and honor to God. The future grace that we have hope in is that we personally will be rewarded by seeing God glorified in a successful harvest, and not just in the fact that lives were changed.

One last thing. Paul says that we will reap in “due season.” When is that due season? Well I am not quite sure. There are one of two answers. The first is that ‘due season’ means on God’s time. When God is ready, our good works preformed by grace through faith in Christ will come to fruition. Second, it could mean that the “due season’ is heaven and that we will see our harvest finally in heaven. The only answer is more context, and I have run out of room. I encourage you to examine Galatians 6 more thoroughly and to keep in mind that in due season we will reap if we do not give up. We would do well to remember that.