"Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up."
(Galations 6:9)
In a classic segment from the sitcom Seinfeld, the wacky letter carrier Newman works himself into a lather explaining why so many folks in his line of work go postal: "Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. And there's never a let up. It's relentless! Every day it piles up MORE and MORE and MORE. And you GOTTA get it out! But the more you get it out, the more it KEEPS COMING IN!! . . . ."
People serving others can get similarly overwhelmed to the breaking point at times. Day after day, we toil in dedicated efforts to improve the human condition. But, drawing from the passage of Matthew above, as we survey the fruits of our labor, we can at times feel defeated that somehow new "weeds" have sprouted out amidst the "wheat" that we have been trying to cultivate. The "weeds" just KEEP COMING IN!! Somehow, despite our best efforts, every day brings MORE and MORE and MORE to tend to!!
It is times like these when I have been heartened by the counsel of Galations 6:9: "Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up."
And key to not "being weary" is to accept that it is our job to simply do the good work the best that we can discern it and then leave the rest up to God. That means we don't spend time separating out the wheat from the weeds, trying to sort out the "good guys" from the "bad guys," or figuring out the tally. No, we just do our part and leave all the rest, including the ultimate reaping, up to Him. That is the pathway toward peacefulness.
Yes, we clearly live in a fallen world. But thankfully, Christian maturity provides the ability to live joyfully in such a place -- with all its imperfections. So do your work faithfully -- and let the rest go. In so doing, you will be pursuing the pathway of peacefulness, walking in step to the words of the old standard: "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me....."
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Dear Lord,
Thank you for allowing me to be an instrument in Your Mighty Hand. Help me to trust that, amidst my toil, no work done in Your name or for Your purposes is ever inconsequential. I look forward to the grand harvest that YOU will one day gather. In the meantime, grant me Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, to guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.
