Weary in Well Doing

The text

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

Galatians 6:9 KJV

At a glance

Summary of the sermon

This sermon addresses a quieter affliction than heresy or doubt: sheer weariness in people who are still going the right way. It is the danger of the middle period. The novelty of discovery has worn off, routine has set in, and the believer feels as a man does in the middle of his career when the early enthusiasm is spent and retirement is still far off.

Lloyd-Jones gives three warnings before he prescribes. Do not give up. Do not settle for grim, joyless plodding, which is a subtler failure than quitting. And do not reach for artificial stimulants — worked-up excitement, novel programmes, endless new attractions — which only deepen the exhaustion, exactly as drink or drugs do in the body. Then he calls for honest self-examination: why am I weary? It may be physical overwork, which needs rest and food as Elijah did before it needs counsel. It may be that we have been running on carnal energy rather than the Spirit's. It may be an impure motive — working for the thrill, or for our own glory, or because activity has become a psychological necessity. Or it may simply be a normal phase of growth.

The positive cure is to remember what we are doing. It is well doing, made possible by the self-humbling of Christ, and not a dreary duty. This life is a preparatory school for eternity, and the harvest in due season is certain. Above all we are to consider Him who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, lest we be wearied and faint in our minds.

Key points

• Weariness typically strikes in a 'middle period' after the first thrill has gone.
• Three false responses: quitting, weary resignation, and artificial stimulants.
• Diagnose the cause first: overwork, carnal energy, wrong motives, or a natural stage of growth.
• Christian living is well doing, rooted in the costly self-giving of Christ.
• Keep the harvest in view, and consider Christ's own patient endurance.

Illustrations the preacher uses

• Elijah under the juniper tree, cured first by food and sleep.
• Churches that live on a succession of new programmes, likened to a man who keeps going on drink.
• A four-year-old skipping out of the house beside her mother who walks calmly — the loss of skipping is not loss of strength.

Related Scripture

• 1 Kings 19:4–8
• Hebrews 12:1–3
• 1 Corinthians 15:58
• Colossians 1:24
• 1 John 2:12–14
• Matthew 25:21

For reflection and discussion

1. Have you experienced a middle-period plateau in your Christian life, and how did you respond?
2. What 'artificial stimulants' might you or your church be relying on instead of dealing with underlying weariness?
3. How does seeing this life as a preparatory school for eternity change how you handle the daily grind of faithful service?