“let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9 KJV).
Here is a principle of achievement. In fact it is the key to success in every endeavor. No matter how you define success the foundation rule is, “Don’t Give Up.”
In any field, those who are successful have one common practice. They didn’t give up and quit. Hence the adage: winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win. This is true in every facet of life.
Wars are won because the victors refuse to give up and surrender. In WWII, the Allies defeated the Axis powers because Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, led the charge with “We will never give up!”
And we discover that this success key is a biblical principle. Keep on doing what you’re doing, despite weariness in doing it, you will win if you don’t give up. Weariness has nothing to do with lost sleep or physical tiredness. Weariness is a state of mental and emotional exhaustion that settles over you when it seems like you are achieving nothing. It is a spiritless, no-energy, no-inspiration state of mind. You have served quietly in ministry. You have lived with integrity in your workplace and community. You have loved people who don’t notice or care. You have given to needs that seem to increase rather than decrease. You have spoken truth where it wasn’t appreciated or received gratefully. You have even prayed about it all. Yet, no harvest on the horizon. No desire to go on.
If this describes your current life, don’t give up. I want you to know three things. First, you are doing good. That’s important. Don’t give up. Second, you are not alone in experiencing weariness. All of us, who take our values, our faith, and our responsibilities seriously, have or will experience weariness at some point. This kind of weariness seems to be a test. It tests our fortitude for continuing. Don’t give up. In Psalm 11 David confronts this common temptation to abandon convictions and faith when circumstances seem to favor the wicked and threaten those doing good. It is about where you focus your attention. And it involves your attitude. Third, Paul wrote this encouragement for you. Reaping time is coming. Don’t give up.
The Reality of Weariness
Paul didn’t scold the believers for being weary. He acknowledged it as a real and present danger. His “let us not” implies that the temptation is genuine. And everyone is thus tempted, even Paul. There is something deeply pastoral in that. The Apostle was not writing from a higher plane to people who live on the grassroots level. Rather, he was writing as a fellow traveler who knew what it meant to keep doing good despite weariness.
Doing good is costly. Time, energy, and emotional reserves are not always replenished. Doing good often goes unnoticed and without gratitude. And when faithfulness produces no visible fruit; when prayers seem unanswered; when service and sacrifice seem to be unappreciated; then discouragement seeps in. One begins to wonder whether the effort is really making a difference. One wonders whether we are wasting our effort on ground that will never yield a harvest. And that thought is precisely what Paul was encouraging against.
A Principle To Stand On
The Apostle’s encouragement was not emotion, but a principle he had already plainly stated: “A person reaps what is sown.” We sometimes only hear that as a severe warning, but it is also a great promise. The same principle that means planting sinful seed reaps destruction also means planting seed to the Spirit reaps eternal life. This spiritual principle is not a capricious whim. God keeps good records of what you plant.
Remember a farmer prepares the ground, plants the seed, and then waits. He does not expect any growth the next day. He cultivates the field and waits for rain. He does not abandon the field because nothing is visible in the first week. He trusts the process and understands the harvest is real. A harvest is coming, which will correspond to what he planted. His job is to keep tending the field, not manufacturing the growth.
That is the image behind Paul’s words. Every act of genuine love, produces more love. Every moment of quiet faithfulness, increases faithfulness. Every prayer offered is heard and will be answered. Every sacrifice made in the name of Christ will be remembered and honored. No seed lost. The seed in your field has both a purpose and a destiny. Your successful harvest is not contingent on whether you can see it happening. Rather, your success is dependent on the One who called you to do good. It depends on the One who governs the harvest. And it depends on you not giving up.
What Keeps Us Sowing
So what does faithful sowing look like when you are weary? It rarely looks exciting. It is showing up when you don’t feel like it. It is being patient with a difficult person for what feels like the hundredth time. It is continuing to pray when hope is hard to sustain. It is giving generously when the sacrifice is real but results are not evident. It is telling the truth kindly in situations where the truth is unwanted, and leaving the outcome to God.
No headlines here. Probably no celebrations. May never be acknowledged in this life. But here is what I want you to hold onto: the planted seed must die in order to cause growth. But the point is in what it grows. You may never see the growth. And who knows, you may be planting a tree that will grow beside your eternal home. Remember, you are the sower, God gives the increase.
Paul reminds us that God cannot be sneered at. That word carries the image of someone turning up their nose thinking God isn’t serious. But God is serious about seed planting. He is serious about your obedient faithfulness. He takes note of every sown seed, good or bad. He promises a harvest to both. And he never breaks His promises.
The Cross Changes Everything
Let’s put this in the proper perspective. In all of history, the cross of Jesus Christ is the supreme example of sowing. At the moment it occurred, the death of Christ looked like an absolute failure. But the seed was sown. On Friday, the disciples didn’t see the harvest. They saw a grave. Their hope dashed. Finished. Nothing left but fear for their lives. The hope they had was buried behind a stone and sealed with Rome’s authority.
Then Sunday morning dawned. Mary and company found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. The seed sown “became the firstfruits of them that slept.” We do not sow in vain because Christ did not die in vain. God is tending your planting. In due season, he will bring your harvest. Do not grow weary in sowing seeds into the things of God. This is the time for sowing but God has appointed a reaping time. Do not quit before it comes. Don’t give up!
Don’t Let Go
Paul’s phrase “if we faint not” (do not give up) carries the image of loosening your grip by getting discouraged and quitting. Weariness accumulates quietly, one discouragement at a time. Then one day we realize we have let go of our hope in a reaping time.
The remedy is to focus on God’s promise. At the proper time the harvest will come. Note, this is God’s time, not yours. His timing is never wrong or late. Always right on time. The field is not as empty as it looks. The seed you have planted is in the ground, and the ground belongs to him.
Keep sowing. Keep doing good. Reaping time is coming. Don’t quit. Don’t give up.