Life is hard. In the midst of adverse circumstances, it’s easy to lose heart. We pray and nothing seems to happen. We want to give up; we’re so weary of waiting, watching, and weeping. We continue on, doing life in our own strength … trying to check all the boxes while in our heads wondering if this is the way it’s supposed to be.
Encouraging Words
Paul, the New Testament apostle, wrote encouragingly in his letter to the Galatians that the believers in Galatia were not to get weary in the good they are doing.
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 (NIV)
Another Bible translation reads, “to not lose heart.” The people of Galatia could know with full assurance that a harvest was coming--a harvest that would be reaped in due time. Isn’t this the same encouragement we need today?
Yet the question that crosses our minds--how is this possible? Twenty years ago, God led me to start a Nurses Christian Fellowship group in Charlotte, NC. We met at a local restaurant on Saturdays to study the Bible and pray for one another. Throughout the years, the group has increased in members and decreased in members. When COVID hit, we shifted to conference calls.
At the start of 2022, I was weary. I prayed, “Lord, should I continue with NCF, and if so, in what capacity? Should I move on to something else?” He answered, opening up a part-time position with NCF. The week I applied, my husband wrecked his motorcycle, winding up in the hospital with six broken ribs and a broken scapula. In the midst of this chaos, I continued to pursue the position, and by the grace of God, I joined the NCF staff.
Don’t Lose Heart
Only by listening to and following God’s Spirit will we not lose heart. Only by his Spirit, we can keep moving, even when we feel weary and want to stop. Only by his Spirit, we see the results he produces, in us and in others.
“…the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:8b (NIV)
As I initially wrote this reflection, my mentor and friend Mary Thompson was in hospice. In the days that followed, she died peacefully and is now reaping the harvest of eternal life. Her quiet example of doing what pleased God, despite times of weariness, reminds me to keep walking in step with the Holy Spirit and doing good to all people. Mary lived this out every day of her life. Let us all be reminded to not lose heart.
Colleen Christenson, BSN, RN, serves as a provisional nurse staff minister with Nurses Christian Fellowship.
Praying with other nurses can adjust our thinking and revive our view of the landscape of daily life. You’re invited to meet online every Sunday night with nurses to pray and be prayed for.
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