GALATIANS 6:9

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

This verse has been underlined in my Bible for a few years. I love it! Of course, I tend to forget it exists until the Lord spends a week or two bombarding me with it.

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from a friend who was discouraged with parenting one of her kiddos. This verse came to mind and I quoted it to her in a voicemail. Her struggle ended up being a blessing to me because it brought me back to that verse. I needed it!

I've been so weary in parenting. Proverbs 22:6 says "train a child in the way he should go." It does not say "tell your child how to behave once and he will understand and eagerly obey you from that day forward." Training is a long-term process and I've been frustrated when I don't get immediate results.

I've been so weary in marriage. I Corinthians 13:4-8 gives us a whole list of things that love is. It has been suggested to put your own name in for "love" and see how you measure up. Well, I've been failing miserably. I've been impatient, rude, and pessimistic.

The words in Galatians 6:9 have encouraged me over the last couple weeks. I'm thankful that the Lord reminded me of them right as my month of focusing on my family began.

I must remember four things:

1) I must not become weary. The secret to not becoming weary is found in Isaiah 40:31. It says "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." I need to quit placing my hope in my own hard work or good intentions and put it in the Lord.

2) I must not give up. According to James 1:4, "perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything". God can and will use my family to mature me, if only I will cooperate.

3) I will see the rewards of my effort. If I continue to sow, then I will reap. End of story.

4) The rewards will come at the proper time. This is the hardest part for me! I struggle to remember that what I consider to be a reasonable amount of time may not be the "proper time". I realize the following verse is written in another context, but the truth remains. In II Peter 3:8 we read that "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day". My sense of time is totally different than God's and I need to trust that his timing is perfect.

And that's that. I promise that my blog won't always be so serious. It's just that the last two weeks or so have been a time of thinking, praying, and shifting of my priorities.