The Snail: Be Consistent, Do Good, And You Will Reap

Galatians 6:9- Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.      

A dear friend of mine reminded me of this verse, and it has really encouraged me. I hope this article, verse, and picture will do the same for you. Some are asking right now, “What does a picture of a snail have to do with Galatians 6:9?” I will take the next few paragraphs to explain that question.

This picture was taken by me during a walk with my wife when I was going through a season of discouragement this year. I walked passed this snail, and he was three quarters of the way across this enormous strip of asphalt on a walking path. I stopped and just stared at the snail’s path of slime from where he had previously come. At that moment, God started to teach me a lesson found in Galatians 6:9 through his amazing creation. Picture this- a grown man lying on his belly staring at a snail. I decided to take a picture of this little insignificant snail to remind me of the moment. God used this little guy to teach me a great lesson.  I pray that it helps you as much as it helped me.  

What did Mr. Snail’s classroom teach me?

1.       The need to be consistent and not lose heart.

2.       In due time we will all reap.

3.       Don’t grow weary in doing good  

The need to be consistent and not lose heart

We live in a day and age of conferences, number one best selling Christian books, and Mega Churches. Although, I don’t think any of these are inherently bad, I do think it is easy to get caught up in being popular and striving for a Christian stardom status. If we are driven to fame and popularity, we lose focus on what is important- serve Christ by serving others. That snail creeping across that walking path was consistent in moving forward a little slide at a time. Let’s not lose heart in doing the small things like consistently loving your neighbor as you love yourself, and serving the lost with deed and truth. This is your ministry!!! If you are not doing this in some way, shape, or form, your ministry is dung in God’s sight. No matter how hard this is for you to hear, it is true. You have to keep moving forward in this. Love them in word and deed. Although these things are important, don’t get so wrapped up in budgets and meetings that you are not consistent in the essentials of love in word and deed.

In due time we will reap

In time, if we continue, we will reap. One thing Jesus is showing me is that He can send the harvest in such small increments that, if we are not really paying attention, we can miss the joy of the reaping. One person confessing Christ out of the thousands you share with, a twenty dollar check to your ministry, and someone thanking you for teaching them about a specific doctrine, my friends, is reaping in small increments. Be thankful!! Pray for revival and an awaking, but until it comes, be thankful for the harvest that He is giving. If the snail had never started across the asphalt path, he would have never reaped the benefit of the other side. He was thankful for every slimy slide he could make across that path. What greater thanks should we have? Your creator wants to use you for the advancement of His great kingdom. Go love in word and deed!! You will reap.

Don’t grow weary in doing good   

Many give up before the race is over. (Statistics provided by The Fuller Institute, George Barna, and Pastoral Care Inc. 50% of the ministers starting out will not last 5 years.  33% confess having been involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church.) They are disqualified from the ministry because of either some perverse sin, or they get weary and walk away from the faith.  Maybe your friend has recently turned away from the faith. Maybe someone you know started to believe some weird heretical doctrine. Don’t grow weary. Don’t be swept away by the shifting sand of man’s narcissistic compulsive doctrine of self. It is a marathon, not a sprint!  How you start is important, but it also matters how you finish. Finish and finish well for the glory of Jesus! Be consistent, do good, and you will reap. The snail and Galatians 6:9 were the examples that God used to remind me. I hope today this article has been a reminder for you.