Growing Weary Doing Good
encouragement for exhausted women
www.lifeway.com/women • LifeWay Christian Resources
Copyright © 2008 Janet Peavyhouse. All rights reserved
“Let us not grow weary doing good, for at the proper time,
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
www.lifeway.com/women • LifeWay Christian Resources
Copyright © 2008 Janet Peavyhouse. All rights reserved
Should the Christian life be
so difficult?
Have we misinterpreted what
is meant by the “Christian life”?
Are we so exhausted because
Christ requires so much
or because we don’t understand
what He truly requires?
Let’s look closer at Galatians 6:9
– Does not say “doing church”
»Says “doing good”
»Greek word for “doing”
poieo
»Means…producing,
bringing forth, bearing a
result—the way a tree
produces fruit.
Does a tree bear fruit because it
tries really hard?
Does a flower bloom because it
labors to produce a bud?
Galatians 6:9 (Cont.)
• The word “good”
• In the Greek kalo
• Means “pleasing or beautiful
What is beautiful to God?
Scriptures that use the
Greek Word kalo
• Genesis 1:31
• Romans 7:18
• Psalm 25:8
• 1 Timothy 4:4
• Psalm 34:8
• Psalm 73:28
“Let us not allow ourselves to
become fatigued in producing
what is beautiful.”
How is this possible
“The Christian life is the very
real process of God producing
His nature in us.”
• John 3:3
• John 3:30
• Galatians 2:20
• Phil 2:13
“It is easy to be so busy trying
to produce for God that
our lives produce
very little of God.”
Karla Worley
Paul continues in Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
“For at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up.”
“proper time” Greek idios
means: “one’s own”
or “belonging to
himself or distinctive”
“A habit or behavior particular to one person.”
The proper time is “God’s time”
• Psalm 75:2
• John 7:8
• Genesis 18:14
• Romans 5:6
• Psalm 102:13
• Galatians 4:4
God’s distinctive ownership and time management.
ONE CONDITION OR WARNING!!!
• “Do not give up” Galatians 6:9
– Give up—Greek word: ekluo
» “to loosen out of” to dissolve
Paraphrased….
“Let’s not allow ourselves to
become fatigued in producing
what is pleasing to God, for in
God’s own time, He will
produce a harvest, if we do not
fall apart or dissolve.”
Galatians 6:9
We must recognize the difference between burdens
that are right for us to bear and burdens that are
wrong. If we set out to serve God and do His Work
but get out of touch with Him, the sense of
responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and
defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the
burdens He has placed on us, He will take away
that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it
with an awareness and understanding of Himself
and His presence.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
Come to me all you who are
weary and burdened, I will give
you rest….
What is your load??????
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Sin
Excessive demands
Weariness
Oppression
Obligations you can’t release
Depression
Defeatism
Want to lighten your load???
• Come to Him with an
intent to learn.
• Live as a true disciple.
• Take on your shared yoke.
• Devote yourself to a relationship with
Him not to religion.
• Find your resting place.
A Look at the Yoke….
• The yoke is designed for two.
• The yoke is an instrument of work.
• The yoke will free you from burdens.
“You must get your attention off
the situation and fix it instead
on the one who is greater than
your circumstances and who is
with you in the midst of it. It is
more important that I know
than that I know what to do.”
Karla Worley
Ask yourself these questions…
_________________________
How do you know Jesus?
Do you know Him by a personal name?
Do you have a history with Him?
Are you willing to do less to know
Him more?
Many times it is much easier for
us to “do for” Him than to “be
with” Him.
Pride leads us to serve God for many
wrong reasons…..
WRONG REASON #1
“Because I have gifts”
WRONG REASON #2
“Because I want to be useful”
WRONG REASON #3
“Because there are needs”
“Whoever drinks the water I give him
will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give
him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life”
John 4:14 (NIV)
“Drink until you become the spring”
Edna Ellison
For more information:
• Growing Weary Doing Good
by Kara Morley
• Frazzled Female & Victoriously Frazzled, Cindi Wood
• Freedom From Busyness, Michael Zigarelli
• Escaping the Stress Trap: 9 Practical Strategies to Overcome
Overload by Mary Southerland
• A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
• Too Blessed for the Mess: The Frazzled Females Guide to
Overcoming Stress by Cindi Wood
• Women and Stress by Jean Lush
www.lifeway.com/women • LifeWay Christian Resources
Copyright © 2008 Janet Peavyhouse. All rights reserved