Growing Weary While Doing Good
We are all naturally enthusiastic about anticipated new things or new experiences that we’ve looked forward to or have planned to enjoy.
If you have recently earned a degree, you enthusiastically anticipated walking across the stage at your graduation ceremony and being handed your hard-earned diploma. If you recently purchased a new home or had one built, you eagerly anticipated moving in and enjoying the newness of the environment and its surroundings. If you were recently married, you survived the months of wedding planning and you passionately anticipated standing face-to-face with your future spouse and saying, “I do.” There is much in this life to be enthusiastic and passionate about!
There is another side to the same coin, however. Once we’ve obtained certain things or we’ve had certain experiences, the thrill naturally trends downward.
Once the pomp and circumstance of graduation is over, we receive our first bill from the government reminding us that we now owe them tons of money for that rectangular piece of paper. After we get that first ding in our car door, we no longer park our brand new car in two parking spaces trying desperately to avoid getting one in the first place. Concerning that newly-built home or newly-purchased home, the thrill of the new environment quickly fades when we begin discovering the hidden problems left behind for us to deal with. Bummer.
Something that you and I don’t often think about is the “routine” or “practice” of doing good. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are passionate about helping those in need; especially those in the body of Christ. We eagerly respond when tragedy strikes or when a desperate situation requires desperate measures. We show up!
There is another side to that enthusiastic and passion-filled coin. It is called fatigue. Weariness. We simply run out of gas.
The Apostle Paul encouraged the Christians in Galatia with the following encouragement, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” I encourage a quick read of the first ten verses of Galatians 6.
The apostle is addressing the fatigue of continuing to do good in the realm of our Spiritual journey; the exhaustion of the Spiritual lifestyle. He emphasizes the weariness that we all naturally experience by continuously doing good to/for those in the household of God. It was Jesus, Himself, who said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).
How do we beat such fatigue? How do we battle such weariness? By resting in the Lord!
Jesus declared, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
I want to take a moment to unpack this verse. It is very probable that most people in our day and age have no idea what a traditional yoke is. A traditional yoke is a large, wooden cross-piece that was made to fasten over the necks of two animals of burden and attached securely to a cart or a plow that was to be pulled. It would have been very thick and heavy and would have been made to certain specifications that could handle the weight being pulled by the animal without breaking.
Jesus encourages us, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (verse 28). Is this your pattern? Do you “go to Him” when you have become overwhelmed with doing good? Do you seek His face? Do you seek His presence? Do you talk to Him? That is where you will find rest.
Jesus continues, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (verse 29). There is nothing worse, in my book, than a grumpy teacher or a short-tempered trainer. Jesus is nothing like that. He is saying in verse 29, “Team up with Me and I will gently and humbly teach you how to work for Me in a way that you constantly find rest for your souls.” What a promise!
He finishes His statement by declaring, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (verse 30). When I worked in the Research and Development department at the tissue bank, it was my responsibility to accurately write descriptions of shapes, sizes, weights, and textures of pieces of human tissue. Their descriptions had to be as humanly accurate as possible. The description that Jesus uses to describe a traditional yoke is very inaccurate to say the least.
As mentioned earlier, a traditional yoke was made out of heavy, sturdy wood that was firmly attached to the necks of two animals of burden in order to pull heavy loads or a heavy plow. That is not the yoke that Jesus is describing. He describes His yoke and burden as “easy” and “light.” The difference is in whose yoke and burden it is.
I have carried this truth with me since my days in Bible college. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed with doing good, I must stop and evaluate whose yoke and burden is upon me? Are you growing weary while doing good? It might be time for an evaluation!
Pastor Adam
If you have recently earned a degree, you enthusiastically anticipated walking across the stage at your graduation ceremony and being handed your hard-earned diploma. If you recently purchased a new home or had one built, you eagerly anticipated moving in and enjoying the newness of the environment and its surroundings. If you were recently married, you survived the months of wedding planning and you passionately anticipated standing face-to-face with your future spouse and saying, “I do.” There is much in this life to be enthusiastic and passionate about!
There is another side to the same coin, however. Once we’ve obtained certain things or we’ve had certain experiences, the thrill naturally trends downward.
Once the pomp and circumstance of graduation is over, we receive our first bill from the government reminding us that we now owe them tons of money for that rectangular piece of paper. After we get that first ding in our car door, we no longer park our brand new car in two parking spaces trying desperately to avoid getting one in the first place. Concerning that newly-built home or newly-purchased home, the thrill of the new environment quickly fades when we begin discovering the hidden problems left behind for us to deal with. Bummer.
Something that you and I don’t often think about is the “routine” or “practice” of doing good. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are passionate about helping those in need; especially those in the body of Christ. We eagerly respond when tragedy strikes or when a desperate situation requires desperate measures. We show up!
There is another side to that enthusiastic and passion-filled coin. It is called fatigue. Weariness. We simply run out of gas.
The Apostle Paul encouraged the Christians in Galatia with the following encouragement, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” I encourage a quick read of the first ten verses of Galatians 6.
The apostle is addressing the fatigue of continuing to do good in the realm of our Spiritual journey; the exhaustion of the Spiritual lifestyle. He emphasizes the weariness that we all naturally experience by continuously doing good to/for those in the household of God. It was Jesus, Himself, who said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).
How do we beat such fatigue? How do we battle such weariness? By resting in the Lord!
Jesus declared, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
I want to take a moment to unpack this verse. It is very probable that most people in our day and age have no idea what a traditional yoke is. A traditional yoke is a large, wooden cross-piece that was made to fasten over the necks of two animals of burden and attached securely to a cart or a plow that was to be pulled. It would have been very thick and heavy and would have been made to certain specifications that could handle the weight being pulled by the animal without breaking.
Jesus encourages us, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (verse 28). Is this your pattern? Do you “go to Him” when you have become overwhelmed with doing good? Do you seek His face? Do you seek His presence? Do you talk to Him? That is where you will find rest.
Jesus continues, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (verse 29). There is nothing worse, in my book, than a grumpy teacher or a short-tempered trainer. Jesus is nothing like that. He is saying in verse 29, “Team up with Me and I will gently and humbly teach you how to work for Me in a way that you constantly find rest for your souls.” What a promise!
He finishes His statement by declaring, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (verse 30). When I worked in the Research and Development department at the tissue bank, it was my responsibility to accurately write descriptions of shapes, sizes, weights, and textures of pieces of human tissue. Their descriptions had to be as humanly accurate as possible. The description that Jesus uses to describe a traditional yoke is very inaccurate to say the least.
As mentioned earlier, a traditional yoke was made out of heavy, sturdy wood that was firmly attached to the necks of two animals of burden in order to pull heavy loads or a heavy plow. That is not the yoke that Jesus is describing. He describes His yoke and burden as “easy” and “light.” The difference is in whose yoke and burden it is.
I have carried this truth with me since my days in Bible college. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed with doing good, I must stop and evaluate whose yoke and burden is upon me? Are you growing weary while doing good? It might be time for an evaluation!
Pastor Adam
Posted in Pastor Adam Gomez