Don’t Give Up

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

The verse from Galatians 6:9 kept popping into my mind when these doubts cropped up, and I closed my eyes, focusing on the words. Wondering just what kind of good the author of the book—the Apostle Paul—was referring to, I jumped up to grab my Bible to read the surrounding verses so that I could gain a better understanding.

And, just as I had suspected, Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit just before this verse, in Galatians 5:22-23. I read the two verses slowly, letting them saturate my weary heart—”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Working my way through chapter 6, I suspected that Paul was urging his readers to not grow weary of living out the fruit mentioned in chapter 5—of being patient and kind and good and faithful and gentle. And why?

Because the stakes are so high. Verse 8—”For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life”—made that pretty clear. Living out the fruit of the Spirit is certainly no easy task, and at times the urge to throw in the towel and walk away seems so appealing. But the consequences for walking away? Definitely not as appealing. Not in the least bit. This good work was worth it, no matter how emotionally draining it was.

And not just for the sake of my own soul, my own eternity.

But for these broken girls’, too.

Anyone else have days where they wake up and wish they could roll over and go back to sleep—burnt out before the day has even begun? I consider it an honor to be able to stay home with my kids; it is a luxury that I know many others can’t afford. But man, oh man, is it ever exhausting—emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Carrying out the good work that the Lord has called us to do is certainly no easy task.

I find myself in a similar struggle with my writing from time to time. Sometimes, when I consider the amount of time, effort, and heart that I pour into my writing and compare it to the results of all that work, I admit that I get pretty tempted to just walk away. Marketing and selling books is a puzzle my husband Ben and I have wrestled and wrestled with for years; we just haven’t been able to fit all the pieces together. And the more active I become on social media—Instagram, particularly—the more discouraged I become. It’s hard to watch other people succeed at something you so desperately want to be successful at! Jon Bloom sums it up pretty well in his article “Steward the Gifts God has Assigned You”—”because remaining sin still dwells in us born-again saints, we find this old addictive pride still infects our view of ourselves and others when it comes to the grace-gifts we receive from God. Rather than seeing our gifts as things we don’t at all deserve and seeing others’ gifts as merciful means of grace to us, we frequently battle sinful discontentment. We often feel that we are not as gifted as we would like to be, or that our gifts don’t receive enough recognition, or that we would prefer another set of gifts altogether, impressive gifts like So-and-So has.”

Can you relate? What are we supposed to do when this discontentment washes over us? When the road stretching out in front of us just looks too rocky to keep traveling on? Is walking away an option?

Jon Bloom goes on to say that, “…we are stewards of the gifts God has entrusted to us. And he has entrusted them to us primarily for the benefit of others (1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:4-6). Our gifts are not intended to be platforms where we try to gain our sense of significance from the esteem of men. Our real significance comes from God choosing us in Christ, gifting us, and deploying us in his kingdom for his purposes.” If, after praying and seeking God’s will in His Word, you believe that He has graciously gifted you a talent meant to further his Kingdom, I believe you should certainly keep walking! Even when you feel dragged down from discontentment or weary from the long road. And as you do so, I hope you can reassure yourself in the same way Molly, the protagonist from my Molly Taylor Series, does as she begins to minister to a few desperately hurting young women—by speaking truth to yourself; reminding yourself to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Don’t give up, friend. Whatever it is that God has called you to do, don’t give up. One final encouragement from Jon Bloom as you keep walking in faith: “…live your assignment. Steward your gifts to the utmost for the sake of others. Aspire to be the very best and most fruitful you that you can be for God’s glory. Don’t dishonor God by devaluing the gifts he’s given you. Don’t waste valuable time grumbling about gifts you don’t have or resenting others for the gifts they do have, or even for the sinful pride they might exhibit… There is no higher calling for you than to be you, and God will reward you beyond your wildest dreams if you faithfully steward your gifts for others.”