I cannot create life from a seed. I cannot cause infertile ground to produce fruit. I am only charged to plant the seed and labor in the field. The supernatural power and life of God brings life to the lifeless and strength to the weary.

 In Due Season We Shall Reap – Galatians 6:9

(Galatians 6:9)  “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

God loved the Galatians – everyone of them.  It was His will to bring them all back to grace.  How did He plan to accomplish this? 
They already had the doctrine.  They had a real living Apostle ministering to them.  The key was to apply the Word of God and the teaching of Paul to the details of their lives.  This meant allowing the love of Christ to flow between them day by day.  This meant the stronger would shoulder a heavier burden than the weaker.  It would require quiet patience, enduring compassion, and a peaceful spirit.  Sometimes the journey would seem impossible.  Sometimes it wouldn’t seem worth it.  Endurance would come as they look beyond the present and even beyond tomorrow.  They would need to look forward to eternity as the goal.  Then, the true worth of all their labors would be manifested to the entire universe.
I wake up every morning knowing I have to cram 26 hours of work into 24 hours – and sometimes fit sleep in somewhere!  I read the news in short bursts, only occasionally stopping for substance and depth.  I am impacted everyday by the changing landscape of a society formed by technological advances.  I live in an impatient world.  The world’s “due season” is right now.  All of this shapes me into an impatient person. As I am conditioned to demand life in a hurry, I wonder how this conditions me to treat people – especially other Christians.  Am I patient enough?  Do I make the same demands of my brothers and sisters in Christ the world makes of me?  I may be planting good seed.  I may have good ground (my heart).  But God requires one other thing as I invest myself in the lives of those around me:  Time.  When I invest time in their spiritual growth, I need to allow time for them to grow up.

(1 Corinthians 15:58)  “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Planting and watering the spiritual lives of others can be exhausting.  But I have the promise of harvest.  The Lord promises a season for reaping.  The fruit will be gathered.  This promise is what keeps me laboring even when the conditions in the field are unfavorable.  This promise keeps me laboring even when others look at my field and ridicule me because it doesn’t look like their field.  This promise keeps me laboring even when there isn’t a hint of growth in those around me.  This promise keeps me laboring even when I am criticized for my choice of fields.  I endure this life and these labors by looking outside of time, outside of myself and toward the Sovereignty and timing of the Lord.  While the world and even my brothers and sisters may not value what I do unto the Lord, the worth of all I do is worth it to Him.  That is all that matters.  That is the knowledge that keeps me in the field.
Renewed Thought – I cannot create life from a seed.  I cannot cause infertile ground to produce fruit.  I am only charged to plant the seed and labor in the field.  The supernatural power and life of God brings life to the lifeless and strength to the weary.