Thought for the Day

Weary Music Ministers

                 Galatians 6:9 states, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”  How can we keep going when we haven’t seemed to have accomplished the great task before us?  I do not believe that this verse is teaching that the Christian musician will never get tired.  I have seen some high energy musicians that seem to never get tired.  However, I am sure that they have to get weary emotionally and physically.  I believe that this Scripture is an admonition to the Christian musician to not quit when he or she is tired and faces burnout.

       I remember being so emotionally weary that one morning on our way to work I announced to my wife Sheila, “this is it—I quit.”  I remember her saying to me very calmly, “If you leave I will not go with you because you know that the Lord wants you to stay here.”  I thought that she was kind of joking, but I didn’t test her to see if she really meant it!

       The Bible lesson in this verse is that the Christian musician should not quit or he or she will miss the harvest.  Wouldn’t it be awful to work hard and the give up before the lord sends the harvest?  I ministered 38 years full time as a Bible college music director. 

If I had quit after only a few years, I would have missed a multitude of God’s richest blessings.       Galatians 6:9 includes a little word with a big meaning.  This word is “if”.  The promise of spiritual harvest comes to those who refuse to quit.  None of us know when the “due season” will come.  So, hang on!  Be sure you get your soul fed because you cannot keep going unless you have spiritual strength within your soul. 

       Keep up your “well doing”.  Your musical ministry does not have to be large in order to please God.  It isn’t your success in the eyes of people that matters.  Rather, it is your faithfulness and “well doing” that matters to God.