Years ago I heard a story about a little boy whose mother put him on the bus for school. Before the bus doors closed and the mother could walk away, the little boy turned around and got back off.
“What are you doing?” the mother asked. “You need to go to school.”
“I know,” he answered. “But I want to stay home today. School is hard, and sometimes it’s boring. And besides, it takes too long.”
The wise mother knelt down and looked him in the eyes. “Son,” she said, “you just described life. Now get back on the bus.”
Lately I have noticed that many of us (myself included!) have had some very long, extremely hard, and sometimes boring days at “school,” and we’ve been tempted to get off the bus and just go back home. It seems no matter how hard we try or how much effort or time we expend, no one appreciates it and we just don’t see much in the way of a return on our investment.
But God sees what we do. He knows our heart, and He knows that we are often weary and on the edge of discouragement. But He has given us a great promise in Galatians 6:9 that if we will not grow weary while doing good and fulfilling His purpose and call for our lives, then “in due season” we will reap the reward for our efforts. We will see that lost one come to Jesus. We will receive the necessary provision or the long-awaited healing. We will experience that restored relationship. We may even be recognized for the long hours we put into working for the Kingdom.
Or not. And that’s the key—that we hold tight to God’s promise and His faithfulness, even if we don’t see the rewards in this lifetime. If we know that we know that we KNOW that we are following hard after Him, pursuing the goal He has set for us, then we don’t need to lose heart, regardless of the results (or lack thereof). We don’t know the “due season” in which we shall reap what we have sown in His name, but we can trust Him to bring it to pass in the fullness of His time. And when He does, the joy will more than compensate any tears we may have shed along the way.
So stay on the bus, beloved! Life is sometimes hard, sometimes boring, and sometimes seems to take forever. But we serve a mighty God—and we serve Him shoulder to shoulder, together. It is an honor to sit next to you on the bus.
Kathi Macias is an “occasional radio host” and an award-winning author of more than thirty books, including her popular international Extreme Devotion fiction series from New Hope Publishers.
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