"But working [the] good, may we not be losing heart, for in one’s own season we will reap, not fainting."
-Sowing to the Spirit, generosity, gratitude, doing good. Others-first, others-better. Powerlessness and humility. Our flesh - even if it has been crucified - does NOT want to live this way. The world doesn’t live this way. All around us and in us, the raging currents both within and without conspire to thwart any attempts at diving deep into life in the Spirit. It can feel like we are wasting our time, we are not making a difference, we are not making any progress in our faith and in killing off our fleshy desires. We may feel that others who are not sowing to the Spirit are still getting ahead in the world, getting away with shortcuts and blatant selfishness. We can be tempted to want to give up and throw in the towel. We can get tired of trying. Why even bother?
-But don’t you do this, says Paul. Don’t give up. Do not give in to discouragement. Do not grow weary of doing good, of doing what is right, of sowing to the Spirit, even when you don’t feel like you see any results. Remember, if you sow, whatever seed you sow, you will reap accordingly, eventually (Galatians 6.7). The law of sowing and reaping is incontrovertible - harvest is guaranteed! There WILL be a season of reaping. It may simply be (and usually is) that God’s timetable is different than ours. Paul uses the special Greek word here for God’s timing - kairos. It refers not to chronological clock time (that Greek word is chronos), but rather to a divinely-appointed season of opportunity. A fortuitous time, a moment of good fortune, if you will, but not one which is subject to the whims of Lady Luck. No, the sovereign Lord God almighty is at the back of all such moments of opportunity, superintending and appointing each and every moment and all the seasons of our lives. He is in control, and working all things together for good - in His time (Romans 8.28). And in His time, there is a time, a season to sow, a season to be patient, and there is a season, a time to reap, to gather in the crops (Ecclesiastes 3.1-2)! God’s timing is unique, different for each and every person. And it is perfect. It's the Google calendar of Heaven, with thousands upon thousands of unique individual calendars all being maintained and integrated into a marvelous synchronicity by the Master Timekeeper Himself. Trust Him, trust Him for power, for the strength to not lose heart, to keep going and doing what is good and right at all times, in every season, and trust Him for the increase, for the fruit and the harvest of real life in the Spirit which is guaranteed and which is life indeed! (2Thessalonians 3.13; Ephesians 3.13, 2Corinthians 4.1, 4.16; Luke 18.1)
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