Keep Going

February 28, 2021

“Be not weary in well doing,” St. Paul admonishes us in Gal.6:9 and 2 Thess. 3:13. I wish he had stated it a bit differently. I am feeling weary today, and I still have at least two hours to go before I can slow down. If he had said, “Don’t be weary of well doing,” I could manage it. I don’t mind trying to do good; the effort doesn’t tire me out, but I do get tired in the middle of doing it. As it is, this word is God standing behind me, giving me a bit of a shove, and telling me to not quit. 

In the workout routine I follow, the leader often says, “When you can’t do anymore, give it another fifteen seconds.” I think God often does that with his children. We think we’ve had enough; we’re ready to pack it in, and God says, “Don’t quit. Give it fifteen more seconds. Don’t be weary in well doing.” Too often, we only do what we think we have strength to do. When we come to the end of our strength, we say, “Enough!” and in so doing, miss what God can do when we’re at the end of our rope. If I want to see God work, I have to get beyond what I can do in my own strength and in my own wisdom. That’s not where God operates. Only when we push through our weariness, when we step out where we have no map, when we are in over our head, are we giving God space to work in our lives. 

Years ago, someone told me, “When you’re in over your head, it doesn’t matter how deep it gets.” So weary or not, I’m getting up and going back at it. I’m sure the Lord has something in mind. I wonder what it is?