Waiting in Weariness

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Wise Living

I’ve been thinking a lot about weariness lately. As a father of two youngsters, weariness often comes to me in the form of needing an extra 15 minutes of sleep, or a breath alone with my wife. Weariness takes all sorts of shapes however. The need for rest. A new challenge. The weariness from continually doing good. Maybe it’s the unseen acts of kindness, the patience you’ve extended again and again, the decision to forgive when bitterness would be easier, or simply the daily effort to walk with Jesus when your heart feels dry. It’s one thing to believe in doing good. It’s another thing entirely to keep doing it when you’re tired.

Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” That sounds like a promise, but it also sounds like a challenge. Paul wouldn’t have written those words if it was always easy to persevere. He wrote them because he knew the temptation to quit, even when you know what you’re doing is the right thing, ever lingers in our minds. We’re encouraged to continue to do good, as the Bible defines, and challenged to persevere through weariness on this path.

Part of what has been inspiring weariness in my life has been the challenge of going to church on a Sunday. Not the lack of desire to attend, but the actual challenge of being there and trying to get filled up. My wife is handling the newborn, while I take the toddler to kids chapel and help him through his fears of the service they do. Each Sunday has been a continually lesson in growing and parenting for us, and my wife and I miss the days of sitting in service and hearing and digesting a sermon from our pastors.

Yet coming back to Galatians, when we persevere, we will reap, and the Lord has a way of sprinkling in fruit along your journey. One day after bedtime I hear my toddler talking to himself in his room. Not an uncommon practice for him, but this occasion was unique. He was praying. Praying for me, his brother, my wife, my parents and my in-laws. Everyone he loved. Thanking the Lord for them. Taking him to chapel and sitting there with him on Sundays isn’t always easy. Praying with him each night, even when he’s throwing a tantrum, is hard. Hearing him pray, alone and out loud, for the first time is the type of fruit that makes the weariness worthwhile.

There is something deeply comforting about the phrase “in due season” as well. It reminds me that the timeline doesn’t belong to me. I don’t control the growth, the breakthrough, or the results. Whether it’s in my life, my finances or my children. My job is obedience. God’s job is the harvest, and he has never been late. I think of the farmer who plants in faith, knowing there will be days when the ground looks barren. He keeps tending because he trusts the process, even when he cannot see progress. Hopefully in whatever weariness you’re battling, you can remember to trust the process and know that a good harvest is coming in His timing… and He’s never late.

Nathan Carroll

Registered Assistant

208-918-8655

nathan.carroll@christianwm.com