It’s been a while since I’ve had opportunity to share (and I
hear some of my friends at Hope Community are getting antsy). I finally find myself with a few moments and
something ‘share worthy’ on my mind.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season
we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 ESV)
When we made our move to Florida, it was with a vision for
an interconnected network of home based gatherings. In that initial vision I determined that it
would take six months for us to meet people in our community to be able to
invite them to join with us. As those of
you who have followed these blogs may remember, the Lord connected us with two
couples in the first month. One could
have made an assumption that within the six month time frame the group would
have continued to grow- and it did in a sense with my parents joining in via
internet from NH. But as far as the
number of folks around the table, we remain at the same number (mom has since
moved down with us and dad will follow soon).
Sometimes there are family commitments which prevent us from
being together. Sadly, one sister lost
her dad and needed time away to grieve.
People go on vacation. Sometimes
we ourselves are out of town and as I am currently the sole facilitator on
those weeks there is no gathering. In a
group of twenty or more the absence of four or five people is certainly noticed
but the meeting goes on. In a gathering of
seven, the same number missing brings the group to a halt.
As the establishing of the network was ‘my vision’ this
challenge of consistency brings me a sense of discouragement and causes me to
question whether it was in fact my
vision rather than the Lord’s. There is
the temptation to, in Paul’s words above, “grow weary” and “give up”.
All work poses its challenges and difficulties and no matter
what field it is in, the work of every Christian is important and is to be done
“as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). Even
so, we know that the output of the occupations we find ourselves in are
temporary and will not last. The roof
put on by the Christian roofer will wear out.
The heart which the Christian doctor labors to save will eventually
fail. The funds kept track of by a
Christian accountant will be spent. I
have been working to break into the Real Estate Photography business and while
I do my best to present quality photographs, I know those houses will probably
not even exist in 100 years.
By contrast, those in formal Christian ministry are under the
conviction that they labor for eternal things.
There is a sense of a higher degree of importance and therefore a
greater level of discouragement when things go in directions or at tempos which
are unexpected and unplanned.
But we cannot let that discouragement win.
Paul certainly experienced this trend to despair in his own
life and must have sensed something in the Galatian churches. In Galatians 6, he writes to urge the
believers to continue on in loving one another (6:1-2), in growing spiritually
(6:3-4) and in following the leading of the Holy Spirit to greater life
(6:7-8).
Perhaps they weren’t seeing any results, or the results were
too slow. Perhaps they were wondering if
it was worth it. So he tells them not to
“grow weary of doing good”. To ‘grow
weary’ is a Greek word meaning ‘to despair of’ or ‘lose heart’ or ‘become
discouraged’. Christians are not to let
such weariness enter in. Our labor is
worth it. God is at work doing something
which may or may not line up with our expectations and “in due season we will
reap, if we do not give up”. In this
sentence to ‘give up’ means to ‘relax’ or to ‘release from’. Paul tells the Galatians, do not ease up for
at the proper time, that specific time fixed by God, there will be a parting of
the clouds and they will see what the Lord is up to.
We’ve got to stick to it.
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor
is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
May God richly bless you, beloved friends.
