I do not think I have ever experienced a time like this. I know my parents did during WWII when they experienced fear, rationing, and a world gone mad. My lifetime, however, has been fairly mild. The roughest time was the View Nam era with the protesters in the streets of our cities and the venom aimed at our returning military.
Now we have multiple calamities. We have the political unrest, the virus-and-fear pandemic, the economic downturn, unemployment, closed schools, masks, vaccines and conflicting data from science and medicine. It has made me weary.
I know I should hold my head up and face it head on, but all I really want to do at times is give up. That is a natural reaction to the circumstances of our present age. As Christians, however, we are not to respond to life with “natural reactions.” Instead, we are to see these challenges as opportunities to do good.
Following Paul’s reminder in Galatians 6 that God will not permit Himself to be mocked and that we will reap what we sow, he urged his readers to not quit but to keep working for good.
“So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” [Galatians 6:9-10 HCSB]
Beloved, no matter how difficult the political climate gets, or how virulent the virus, or how devastating the health and welfare of our nation, or how strong the opposition, we do not quit. We do not give up. We do not go silent.
We keep doing good, speaking truth, reaching out to others. The world is growing darker and darker—which should not take us by surprise. That means we need to grow brighter and brighter with the light of Christ. Our brightness shines best when we are meeting each challenge with good.
If we do not give up, we will reap a reward that is out of this world! Amen!