08 Mar Do Not Grow Weary in Doing Good

It’s my little boy’s nap time which also means its my time with Jesus. All is well, and I curl up into my bed, propping myself up on the large, husband pillow I used to nurse and cuddle four babes with over the last nine years. I snap my light on and turn to my New Testament reading of the day.

My eyes linger long over the words on the page. Sharp words, I remind myself. Living and active words. Words that are intended to change me from the inside out.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:7-9).

This last verse in particular grips my heart and calls out to me, beckoning me to heed its exhortation and encouragement:

“Laura, do not grow weary.“

And my response, after single-parenting for nine days, is an honest and vulnerable: “But God, I am. I am weary.“

When the one word that seems to describe you best in this season of motherhood is “weary,” how do you keep from being weary?

When We are Weak, He is Strong

Rather than physical fatigue, this passage is speaking of a much deeper, more serious kind of weariness. The Greek word for “weary” in this passage is defined as “to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted.” In other passages where this same word is used, it means “to faint.” To give up. To stop persevering. To call it quits.

It makes me think of the times in my own parenting journey when, in a puddle of tears on my pillow, I choked out to the Lord, “I’m at my wits end! I don’t know what to do right now!“

These are the times when I am just who I am – a weak woman before her Almighty God. And guess what? He says, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

What Makes Us So Weary?

Lots of things can make us soul-weary as moms and it’s helpful for us to identify the things that are most likely to pull us out of the race and keep us from the good work God has called us to do each day. Here are just a few I’ve personally experienced:

~ We grow weary when we think it’s our job (not God’s) to produce godly character in our kids

~ We grow weary when we stop reminding ourselves of the harvest that is promised to those who persevere in doing what is good to the glory of God.

~ We grow weary when we compare ourselves with other parents or our kids with other kids

~ We grow weary when we try to interfere with God’s “growing schedule” for our kids and impatiently try to coax fruit out when the harvest isn’t ripe.

~We grow weary when we equate our worth with our kids’ growth and success.

Looking to the Harvest Ahead

Moms (and everyone who follows Christ Jesus) is called to this – do not grow weary in doing good. So where do we find our motivation to persevere in well doing?

We persevere in doing good, which in mothering simply means we don’t give up in training our children in God’s truth and caring for them well. We look for every opportunity to point ourselves (and them) to the Cross of Christ and to the profound love of God that is displayed for us there.

And we are motivated to persevere in doing good through the wiping of bottoms and the scrubbing of floors and the consistency of discipline and the regular flow of love in all things because we are loved perfectly and eternally by our Savior. We are motivated because we have a Savior who has modeled a life of doing good; Who washed dirty feet and fed masses and filled empty jars with the best of wine.

We are motivated as well because of the promised harvest ahead – “in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart.“

We sow one seed after another after another by faith and in hope of this promise. And then one day (some day), maybe when you least expect it, you will have food to eat that no one around you will even know about (see John 4:32). But you will. And you will know that this good, renewing gift is from God.

Maybe you are in a a season right now where you are not just physically exhausted, but “utterly spiritless.” Maybe you look at your lack of patience, your kids lack of character, all the things you wish you were doing and just aren’t – and you feel like calling it quits on – well, Doing good.

Don’t.

Instead, do this one thing – take your eyes off of yourself and your kids and place them upon Jesus – our “great high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses” and come boldly to His throne of grace to receive mercy and grace to help in your time of need.

Today (yes today) God wants to meet you right where you are and hold you in his arms and quiet you with His love. If you will look to Him and not to the stuff of this world to get you through, He promises to “renew your strength” so that you “run and do not grow weary, walk and not faint.”

 Friend, a great harvest awaits you. Keep your eyes on the prize.