Galatians 6:9 says ‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’
• DAILY READING Mark 12:28-44; 1 Kings 4-5; Hosea 7:3-16
A good example of not being weary in well doing, comes from the life of William Carey. He was the first modern missionary to India. Though he faced a lot of challenges on his assignment, he persisted without giving up, until success came.
At the onset of his missionary trip, Carey faced official oppositions from a British Company which did not want missionaries in India. But Carey persisted and finally made his way to India, with his wife and children. When he arrived India, due to insufficient funds, his family passed through a lot of hardship. They suffered repeated attacks of malaria and cholera. And due to these harsh living conditions, Carey and his wife eventually lost three of their small children. His wife was devastated, unable to cope, she progressively lost her sanity and became invalid.
Carey labored in preaching The Gospel, for seven years without winning a single convert to Christ. But In 1800 he finally began to reap what he had sown, baptizing his first Hindu convert. This was the firstfruits of an eventual great harvest among the Indian people.
Yet Carey still faced other challenges; he fought against evil practices, such as children being sacrificed to the gods; and widows being burned alive on their husband’s funeral pyres.
A disastrous fire in 1812 at the mission printing plant, destroyed years of Carey’s translation work. Undeterred, Carey formed a team that translated the Bible to 34 Asian languages, compiled dictionaries, started an influential College; began churches and established 19 mission stations; formed 100 rural schools; started the Horticultural Society of India, printed the first Indian newspaper; and introduced the concept of the savings bank to assist poor farmers etc. Carey’s fight against the burning of widows helped lead to its ban in 1829.
Despite all the challenges he faced, Carey eventually made a great impact in India with The Gospel. Though he sometimes grew weary in doing good, Carey refused to give up, until he reaped a bountiful harvest.
Galatians 6:9 says ‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’ Every reward answers at the end. We must therefore endure and persist in well doing, if we want to reap our reward. Many of life’s failures are people who gave up before their harvest came. There is a due season for reaping. And we must not faint if we are to access that season.
In Eccle.3:1, the Bible says, ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven’.
God has an appointed time for each season of our lives. He is working with a master plan. 1 Pet. 5:6 says we should humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand so that He may exalt us in due time.
When we trust God, we will be patient to wait until our appointed season of harvest comes. Despite his many challenges, Joseph did not faint nor grew weary, he waited until his appointed time came. Moses could have given up after 40 years of staying at the backside of the desert, but he persisted until his appointed season came. We don’t have to run ahead of God. We must understand that God relates to us according to the times and seasons of life. He has the script to our lives’ drama. Therefore in each season we wait for His timing and prompting. Our responsibility is to ensure that we are cooperating with His Spirit to follow His perfect will for our lives.
God is in control. Our promotion comes only from Him, and not from men! If men exalt you, they can also bring you down. It is God who exalts us in our due season. John 3:27 says ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.’ and James 1:17 says ‘Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and from the Father of lights..’
God is the raiser of men, and when He raises you, no man can erase you. This is why we patiently wait for Him. When we are due we will not be denied.
Therefore no matter the situation you may be facing, don’t give up, don’t give in, keep pressing forward. There is coming a reaping season, there is a reward awaiting you. Your labor cannot be in vain. And if you do not faint, surely in due season, you shall reap.
PRAYER: Lord, please help me not to become weary in well doing. I know my reaping season is coming. Please help me to stay strong as I await Your appointed seasons of harvest for me in Jesus Name. .
QUOTE
When you obey God’s instruction you are delivered from destruction.
[ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK TRIUMPH OF LIGHT OVER DARKNESS]