Weary of Doing Good

I wonder how a farmer would feel, when after having planted on his field for several months, having toiled day and night, and having braved the harsh rays of the sun, he returns to an empty land. Having anticipated a year's harvest, on which he could feed his family, he comes home to the same irrigated soil that he had left to yield crops half a year ago and finds it fruitless.

Would he cry and curse himself? Would he scream at the heavens and ask God why? Would he throw his open baskets and wooden carts upside down with frustration? Would he still wake up early the next day and work just the same? Would he give up planting?

I'm now finding myself inside the shoes of that farmer - in terms of my work and in other areas of my life. I felt that I've worked hard enough to earn something significant but instead received something that I felt I did not at all deserve. A strong sense of entitlement has engulfed me.

So I began to tell myself - why do I need to do all those things when I know and I've proven that nothing valuable will come out of it? Why do I need to sacrifice and offer myself to people who won't do the same or at least show genuine appreciation to what has been given? Why do I need to continue sowing pleasant seeds when I've only been given thorns and ugly weeds?

Yesterday, as I was contemplating on these things, God reminded me to keep breathing and carry on. I must not allow disappointing situations to remove my joy and change my character. I must give thanks at all times because my security does not lie on people and outcomes but in Him.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  - Galatians 6:9

I know these are just words and where rubber meets the road is another thing, but since I consider these words true and powerful, I'm finding hope.