Opening story
There’s a book of mine sitting on Amazon right now that, some weeks, nobody reads. No sales. No reviews. Just a cover and a title and a whole lot of hours I poured in, waiting quietly in a catalog of millions. I know exactly what that feels like from the road, too — you plant a relationship with a prospect, you show up, you follow through, and for months there’s nothing. No return call. No signed quote. Just work you did in good faith with no fruit to show for it.
Scripture (NIV)
“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
How I Understand This Scripture
The way it reads to me, Paul isn’t promising the harvest comes when I want it. He says “at the proper time” — which is God’s clock, not mine. My part is only the not-giving-up. The tiredness is assumed; he says don’t become weary, meaning he knows the weariness is already knocking. This is my own take, but I hear a man who’d done a lot of thankless faithful work telling other people it counts even when it doesn’t look like it counts.
Reflection
I’ve had to learn that faithfulness and results aren’t the same thing. The book nobody’s read yet isn’t a failed book — it’s a planted one. The prospect who went quiet isn’t a wasted year — it’s a seed in the ground I can’t see. My job was never to control the harvest; it was to keep doing the good thing in the season when no one’s clapping. That’s harder than it sounds, and I fail at it plenty. But every quiet week is a chance to trust the clock isn’t mine.
Prayer
Lord, I get tired of doing good with nothing to show for it. Steady me. Remind me the harvest is Yours to time and mine only to prepare for. Keep me planting when I can’t see a thing growing. Amen.
If this spoke to you, come join me at www.christaff.net — I’d love to have you along for the journey.
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