Read: Galatians 6:1-10
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (v. 9)
The big day finally arrived. It was a “respite care” day—a break—for his current foster family, but really, a chance for us to meet each other. We played, ate, and played more with Ben for an exhausting six hours of nonstop chatter and motion. This hyperactive, hungry-to-please, bright-eyed boy returned to his foster home, and our family collapsed, bone-tired, to debrief the encounter. Our athletic 12-year-old son’s response summed it up best: “Man! I’m gonna have to step up my game!” After over a year of meetings, waiting, paperwork, waiting, phone calls, waiting . . . we had actually hosted a foster child in our home. The day had felt like a tornado, and we were whipped.
Scripture, while necessary for the “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV) in all things spiritual, is also intensely practical. In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, he writes to believers: remain steadfast to the plans and purposes of God. How? By doing good “to everyone” (Galatians 6:10) as a demonstration of his love. Not only that, but they are exhorted to not grow weary in these practical endeavors.
We had taken our first steps on the road toward adoption, and within the first six hours we found ourselves exhausted. But as Paul wrote to the Galatians and to us all: do not grow weary of doing good! —Tammy DeRuyter
As you pray, ask for opportunities to do good in his name.
About the Author
Tammy DeRuyter is a former stockbroker turned student of theology and history. She holds master’s degrees in both from Fuller Theological Seminary and Central Michigan University. Married for more than 25 years to Michael, an ordained RCA pastor, they have three emerging, young adult children ages 20, 21, and 22—the youngest of whom was adopted at 11.
