Digesting God’s Word: “Become Weary”

Continued from here.

In my last blog entry, we digested what Paul meant by “Let us not…” Today, we will focus on the object of that warning: “become weary.”

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

Paul warns us that we can be tempted to become weary, and we should resist allowing this to happen to us. That means that “becoming weary” is a choice, not an inevitability. We can choose to become weary, or we can choose not to become wary – it’s entirely up to us. Just because we feel weary does not mean we must become weary.

We become something gradually rather than all at once. The verse doesn’t tell us not to be weary; it says not to become weary, which is a process that happens over a period of time, making it not one choice but actually a series of choices that gradually moves us into a place of weariness.

When people ask themselves, “What have I become?,” they look in the mirror and recognize that they are no longer who they used to be. The change has been so gradual that they were unaware it was happening. “Becoming” happens in increments. Today I’m just a little wearier than I was yesterday, and I allow myself to become just a tad wearier tomorrow. It’s a slow process of tiny compromises – one little compromise after another – that doesn’t seem to be much of a compromise until we look up one day and notice that we have become something that we never thought we would be.

Synonyms for weary include exhausted, fatigued, and drained. These are all states of being that don’t happen all at once. We don’t go from energized to weary all at once. We become a little less energetic … and then a little more … and then a little more until we pass a certain point. After that, instead of being “less energetic,” we become “more exhausted” or “more fatigued” or “more drained.” We gradually dig ourselves into a deeper and deeper pit of weariness, but we do it one small shovelful at a time so we don’t notice that it’s happening until we wake up one day and find ourselves in a deep hole of weariness.

So, to avoid becoming weary, we must be mindful that this can happen to us. We must pay attention to the signs that we are losing energy and moving toward exhaustion. We must notice the subtle changes and put a stop to this gradual progression before we reach the point of weariness.

Continued here.

[Graphic: Cartoon of Grace lying on the floor, holding up a sign that says, “I give up.” Courtesy Bitmoji.]