Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially or those who belong to the household o faith.  Galatians 6:9-10 HCSB

I remember when my mom first retired, she said that she worked harder after she retired than she ever did while she was employed. I used to think that this was probably an exaggeration, but now that I am retired I see what she meant.  I had this vision that once I retired I would have lots of free time to do whatever I wanted.  This has not been the case, however.

There are those rare days that I carve out to do something fun with friends and help maintain sanity, but in all honesty those days are few and far between. I’ve told you before that I had tried for years to get a federal job, but God kept me in my state job.  You see since He knows what our future holds, He knew that I needed to retire when I did.  He knew that my niece would come along and spend a month in the hospital and need someone to take a 12 hour shift every other day with her.  He knew that my dad was going to get sick and die just a year after my niece was in the hospital.  He knew that my mom would need lots of time, attention, and eventually care after my dad passed away.  He knew that our church would have problems and that we would be involved in starting a new church.  He knew that I was going to be needed to do all this.  He knew that our church would do a food pantry, and Vacation Bible School, and Revivals, and that we would do other outreaches and go out and serve in our community.  And he knew that there would be times when we would grow weary.

Now let me stop right here and explain that there are two types of weary and I have experienced both.  There is that type of weary when you are living with sin in your life and it is weighing you down.  In Matthew 11:28, Jesus tell us, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  All of you take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Now let me say this, the burden of sin will weigh you down like a stone tied around your neck.  I have been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.

But doing good can grow tiresome as well.  There were times in Jesus’ ministry when even he got into a boat and sailed out onto the water or went somewhere to be away from the crowds.  Doing good will never be as burdensome as your old sinful life, but we can grow tired.  We can grow discouraged when we do good and do good and seem to hit one stumbling block after another in our lives. But our scripture passage tells us to not grow tired of doing good. It tells us that we will reap what we sow at the proper time, if we hang in there and don’t give up.  God Word always holds true.

If you are in a season of life where you are weary, do a little self assessment.  Is there sin in your life that is like a stone tied around your neck and weighing you down? If so, come to Jesus and give it to Him, allow Him to help you to get rid of it.  Take up His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light.  Take a load off, my friend.

If you are weary from doing good, know that God notices.  Know that He is there for you.  Take time for yourself away from the roaring crowds.  Take time to spend with Jesus and allow Him to help you carry your load.  Focus on Him and He will take good care of you (Matthew 6:33-34).  Trust in Him to reward your good works in the proper time.  The proper time is a whole other blog, but know that God’s timing is proper and perfect.  Know that He knows just when we should receive our reward because He knows just when we will need it most.  He sees all things.  He sees your good works. He knows that you are tired and weary and He stands with outstretched arms.  Won’t you turn to Him? And most importantly if you are doing good works, keep up the good work.  Know that God is with you and don’t give up.  He won’t let you down. Trust in Him to reward you at just the right time.  We will all reap what we sow.

Have a great day!