Be Not Weary

True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.
St. Francis of Assisi

Ever notice how some things suddenly seem to change overnight and then other times you can't notice that anything is changing? I've seen this in several areas of my life. In my Bible reading for one. Sometimes I feel like I'm really learning and applying the things God's teaching me and other times I feel like I'm reading and it's not doing much. The same is true for my piano playing. Some times I can note real progress in an area and other times I'm sure it's as dull and boring as the first day I started. (Maybe not quite that bad!)

So what do I do in those times when I don't notice any progress? When I don't feel like I am doing anything? I could stop but where will that get me? In ten years, I won't be able to play the piano. I won't know any more Bible and will have drifted away from God because I stopped reading when it didn't seem to be doing anything. I will have raised unruly children because I gave up on training them. That's a grim result. That is not the fruit I want from my life.

So I keep going. I keep going because I are not living life based on my feelings. I am keeping my commitments regardless of what the outcome is. I am not charged with the outcome, only my effort.

God's way always work. God's method will always bring about God's results which is what I want, right? And you know what God wants from me? Faithfulness. That's it. 1 Corinthians 4:2, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."

So I'll go plunk out those same three chords on the piano; read that Proverb again; repeat those same instructions to my toddler. I might not notice any change now but down the road I will see the fruit of my effort.

Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."