Don't Give Up!

“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

Feeling tired? Are you wondering whether your work for God is being noticed? Does it seem that your faith is futile? You are living for Christ and no one seems to pay attention or care. You wonder whether God hears your prayers or whether the answers that you see are really answers at all and whatever happened would have happened regardless of your prayer. Everywhere you turn it appears that wickedness is growing more and more, and those whom you thought feared God fall to some sin that they had been harboring for some time. Sooner or later, all followers of Christ find themselves at the precipice of doubt and despair, but take heart! God is working in ways that we cannot imagine, and we will reap the results of our labor, if we do not give up!

The Christian life is not easy, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar, a fool, or just plain naïve. I am convinced that a great deal of the fruit of the Christian life goes unseen. We are spiritual farmers, planting seeds in the ground, unable to see the mysteries unfolding underneath the soil, yet waiting for the growth to come poking through.

The power of the Christian walk may be seen through supernatural movements of God, but most often the power of God is seen through a consistent and persevering life of one walking with Christ—that is the greatest testimony that we have. We are like marathon runners making sure that we finish the race that we have set out to run. Some start off the race with great bursts of speed and enormous zeal for the task at hand, but when confronted with the reality of the race, the pain, sacrifice, and cost involved, they quit. The key to running and finishing a marathon is not how fast one runs, but possessing the staying power and discipline to continue running. It is not those who lead the race at the beginning and quit who get the medal, but only those who finish the race.

We will reap a harvest for everything we have done: the love we have given, the prayers we have prayed, the acts of service, the sacrifices we have made, the gifts we have given, and the righteous deeds we have done all will one day come to fruition. It may take a long time to happen, but it WILL happen, just as the seed planted by the farmer begins small, and grows and grows until it becomes a vast harvest of righteousness—that is, if we do not give up. We will reap! It is promised to us! We will receive the reward; we will see the fruit of our labor! Don’t give up! Don’t give in! Hold on through the storm because the dawn is coming! God will bring it all to completion, just don’t give up!!!! Amen.