Do Not Grow Weary
Thank you for praying for us after I wrote this blog. I didn’t leave Home Affairs that day with the miracle piece of paper I was hoping for, but I did leave with a miraculous peace. Here’s a quick article I wrote for the Help Club for Moms about it. Three days later, I’m still consumed by joy and peace. It just took one exhausted encounter with God, and I truly feel like I’ve been forever changed.
Take that, devil.
Remember: God doesn’t want bad things for you, and He does not cause them. He can take the bad, hard, and tired stuff, and make something good.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20 NIV
My teenage son and I have been talking about the practical details of the Christmas story. We wonder what kind of toddler Jesus was while we watch my youngest meltdown on the kitchen floor. We consider what it was like for a virgin, teenage girl to become an unexpected mom. There were many moments in the Christmas miracle of our Savior coming to earth that were void of glamour, glory or magic.
We are missionaries in South Africa, and much of our life is also lacking in the magical moments many imagine. Neither of our children have been granted birth certificates, and that affects our daily life and family profoundly.
Yesterday, I rallied the nations to pray for my family, and, under counsel of the American embassy, embarked on a journey for my youngest’s documentation. My 20-month old son and I pulled out of the driveway at 6:30am and drove for almost two hours. I had to guard him with one eye and my car with the other when we arrived. We were told to leave as soon as we sat down at the counter we’d been trying to get to for three hours. The officer didn’t even look at my paperwork. She just told me to go to a different office. I headed back with no miracles and a cranky baby. We drove two more hours, straight to the other office. We were sent away as it had just been shut down for COVID. We were beyond ourselves by this point, and it was only noon!
So I worshiped. One hand on the wheel, and one in the air. I felt an impression on my heart. He said, “Do not grow weary.” I remembered the verse from Galatians and looked it up in my favorite commentary when I got home. (www.enduringword.com)
“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9
The commentator said this: “In the ancient world, this phrase translated “lose heart” was used for the kind of fear and weariness a woman experiences during labor before delivery. It describes a time when the work is hard and painful, but also unfinished and unrewarded. It’s easy to lose heart when we feel like that, but that is exactly when we must hang on and not grow weary while doing good.”
God could have said anything to me on that car ride. He chose to say He knows the unique weariness, fear and exhausted pushing of a mama. Dear friend, our loving Father sees us and says, “Keep going, Mama. This is the messy part of My Kingdom coming. The long hours, the repeated efforts, the patience, and the pain are the exact places you get to help Me bring heaven to earth.”
Jesus was birthed in a mama’s pain and exhaustion. She literally brought heaven to earth, and I bet it wasn’t pretty with just her teenage fiancee and some farm animals. Take heart today, sweet mama. Don’t grow weary, even now. It’s going to be worth it when Christ comes in glory, when your children learn to love Him, and when you develop a steady hope as the anchor for your soul.