I was in Honduras for a few days. While in that beautiful country, I met an American who was living full time down there as a missionary with his family. He was good guy, and I really enjoyed visiting with him and learning what it was like to relocate from USA to Honduras. He told me it was not easy at first. Challenging, actually. He and his wife were both convinced that God wanted them to make this move. They were fully on board together. And their young son was too. But their teenage daughter was furious about it. She did not see the sense in it and did not want to leave all her friends to move to Honduras.
He looked at me and said, "I'll never forget the Sunday before we moved down here. We were back home in America at our church. Our whole family was sitting on the front pew. The preacher was just about to call us up in front of the church so everyone could pray for us. It was at that moment my teenage daughter leaned over to me and whispered, 'I hate you for doing this to me!'. That was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced."
He loved his daughter. She really was a great girl. It was just a difficult moment, and in her youthfulness, she didn't know how else to cope. And even though he didn't hold a grudge against her, it did wound him. Deeply, it hurt him.
But you know what? He hung in there. He stayed calm and loved her anyway. He didn't get defensive or angry at her. And he still moved his family down to Honduras. Eventually she grew to like it. His daughter adjusted emotionally and decided to have a positive attitude. The family bonded even closer and had the adventure of a lifetime as one.
Sometimes in life, the right thing to do is the hard thing to do. Obeying God is not always a happy cakewalk that is filled with ease and sunshine. Not at all! God's will for us includes pain at times. But if we hang in there, cooperate with Him, and persevere, we will experience a blessing and enjoy the victory.
In Galatians 6:9, Paul wrote this - "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." The apostle is encouraging people to stand strong and do what is right, even if it hurts. And he is reminding everyone that there will be a reward waiting for those who follow God's leadership in their lives.
Maybe there's something you need to do, but it's really difficult. And you know it's going to be painful on one level or another. If that's you, just remember this: God will give you eveything you need to get through those tough circumstances. He will help you. And when it's all said and done, your life will be better off because of it.
I'm glad my missonary friend hung in there. He did not "become weary in doing good", and he did indeed "reap a harvest". What an inspiration. What an example! May you and I do the same in our lives today and forevermore.
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