Do Not Grow Weary

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Do Not Grow Weary Route 66 diner story with old farmer and unseen harvest

Do Not Grow Weary is a life lesson more should explore and more importantly, experience. I was sitting in a Route 66 diner with both hands wrapped around a thick ceramic mug, letting the steam warm more than just my fingers. It was one of those mornings where the sun came in sideways through dusty windows and the world felt unhurried. For once, I wasn’t behind schedule. I wasn’t chasing a deadline. I was simply present.

An old farmer slid into the booth across from me because the rest of the counter was full. His overalls had faded into a color you can’t buy in stores. His boots were worn smooth. His hands looked like they’d argued with dirt most of their life and kept showing up anyway.

We talked about weather, rain, and diesel prices. The kind of small talk that feels like stretching before something deeper. I asked him if he was planting this year. He nodded and stirred his coffee. “Been planting longer than I’ve been harvesting,” he said. That line settled into me.

Do Not Grow Weary in Planting Season

I asked him if it ever bothered him when the harvest was thin. When the rain came late. When the yield didn’t match the effort. He shrugged. “You don’t plant for applause,” he said. “You plant because it’s planting season.” There was no drama in his voice. Just certainty. Outside the window, trucks moved along Route 66 like they always had. Inside, silverware clinked and someone laughed near the register. “Some years,” he continued, “you don’t see much come up. Doesn’t mean it’s not working. Some seeds take their time. Some harvests aren’t meant for the man who put them in the ground.”

That’s when Galatians 6:9 rose quietly in my mind. Paul’s words, steady and practical: do not grow weary in doing good, because in due season there will be a harvest. He doesn’t say you’ll see the harvest. He just says there is one.

The Kind of Harvest You May Never See

I thought about the notes left under sugar dispensers. The breakfasts quietly paid for. The episodes recorded and uploaded without knowing who will listen. The words written long before anyone reads them. It’s easy to measure response. It’s easy to look for numbers, comments, reactions. It’s easy to grow weary when effort doesn’t immediately echo back.

But the farmer didn’t measure that way. He planted because it was time to plant. He trusted seasons more than statistics. Out along the desert edges of Route 66, there are stretches of land that look lifeless. Dry soil. Cracked earth. Nothing visible moving beneath the surface. But one steady rain can wake seeds that have been waiting patiently underground.

Do Not Grow Weary isn’t a motivational slogan. It’s a reminder about seasons. Some seeds wait. Some seeds belong to the next pair of hands. Some harvests are gathered by people you’ll never meet.

Faithfulness Over Applause

As I sat there holding my coffee, I realized something else. Weariness often comes from wanting proof. Wanting to see results. Wanting confirmation that what we’re doing matters. But faithfulness doesn’t require visibility. Paul didn’t promise applause. He promised a season. The old farmer didn’t plant because he was guaranteed abundance that year. He planted because planting was his calling in that moment.

And maybe that’s what Do Not Grow Weary really means. Not that you’ll watch the field turn gold in front of you. Not that every act of kindness will circle back in a visible way. But that nothing planted in obedience is wasted. There will be a harvest. Even if it isn’t yours to gather.

✨ Roadside Reflection:

Do Not Grow Weary. Not because you’ll see immediate results, but because faithfulness always plants something. You may never stand in the field where it grows. You may never watch the seed break soil. But there will be a harvest. Keep planting kindness. Keep recording the episode. Keep leaving the note. Keep doing good. The season belongs to God, and the harvest is already promised.


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Faith and Good Courage is a podcast and journal by Christopher Tuttle.