I’m feeling weary from this quarantine. I’m ready to bust out and get back to normal. I’m ready to hug my 86-year old mom, burn my mask, and hang out with lots of people that I know. I want to sit at BJs, go to Knott’s, and gather as a church to worship. But who knows when we’ll really go back to normal? We don’t even know what it’s going to look like, let alone when.
In summarizing the letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul says in 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Ahhh. I needed that! He encourages the Galatians (and the principle applies to all of us) not to grow weary—to press on even when we feel tired, somewhat overwhelmed, and ready to give in to our selfish desires. No, he writes: Don’t grow weary. There is a bigger purpose out there. All is not hopeless.
What is it that he hopes that we “reap”? Fruit from our labor in ministering to others. In Galatians 5:13-14 Paul writes, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Often my weariness is because I am focused on what I feel are my limited freedoms. I am being stopped from what I want to do. However, Paul reminds me in Galatians that I need to press on in order that I serve others well. Though I frequently feel that I’m limited in how I can serve others due to this quarantine, I need to remember that how I serve others (my methods and my attitude) is just as important as what I do to serve others.
My prayer is that God increases our love for Him and for others. May our restrictions not cause us to be selfish. May we heed Paul’s encouragement: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”