When The Hardest Thing And The Right Thing Are The Same


Several years ago, there was a song by the band The Fray that got a lot of airplay on the radio.  The song, which was entitled "All At Once," has this refrain that I've never forgotten:  "Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same."  

That refrain plays in my head sometimes when I am struggling with decisions I have to make, or if I have grown tired of making decisions or if the decisions I've made turn out to be the wrong decisions or...  you get the picture.  

I think that there are times when it can get so difficult to keep doing the right thing that we give up.  We get tired of trying, perhaps.  It feels like we don't have enough energy left to devote to the task, and so the temptation to abandon it becomes overwhelming. 

There are so many right things that fall by the wayside because we get exhausted trying to keep doing them.  

Maybe we've grown weary of dealing with a difficult person at work.  It could be that we are tired of working hard to save our marriage.  Perhaps we are trying to change an organization that refuses to be changed. Maybe we have become frazzled and stymied as a parent. 

Or maybe the problems of the world are so overwhelming, we don't even know where or how to begin to solve them.  

Much like the refrain from that song by The Fray, there is this Bible verse that comes to my mind in those moments when I am growing weary of trying to keep doing the right things--kingdom of God things.  When I find myself tempted to throw in the towel because I am exhausted, or pounding my head against the wall it speaks right into my frustration:  
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9
It is true that sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same thing.  But if we allow ourselves to grow weary in doing the right things, we very well could be robbing ourselves of a blessing.  

In the end, we simply have to be patient, stay faithful to our calling, and trust that God will honor our work "at the proper time."  It's easier said than done, I know.  Because most of our frustration, weariness and temptation to give up doing what's right comes from our lack of control over the outcomes.  

But if we have the courage to surrender the outcomes to God, we will find the strength to keep doing what is right, good, pure and eternal--no matter how hard it might be.  

May you find encouragement today to continue doing good for the sake of the kingdom of God.  May you find the courage to surrender the outcomes of even the most challenging tasks before you.  And may you find hope that there will one day be a bountiful harvest in God's time and in God's way.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen. 

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