“He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.’ I replied, ‘But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward,’” (Isa. 49:3-4).
I just had a conversation with my mom about how what I’m
doing seems so useless. I keep thinking
that God could use me better if I were helping an orphanage, or living in a
foreign country “saving the heathens”, or leading the “lost believers” in true,
authentic worship. Somehow, teaching awkward adolescents about
Active and Passive voice pales in comparison to the aforementioned tasks.
I look at someone like Isaiah, the chosen mouth-piece of the
Almighty God, and think, this guy has it
going on! He proclaims God’s message to
the lost—he brings God glory! Isaiah
is everything I think I want to be (well, I don’t really want to be a man, or
despised, rejected, and single…), but even Isaiah feels useless in his
job. He finds no contentment in what he
does.
Contentment is found in this, “Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward,” (Isa. 49:4b,
emphasis mine). There is no rest or
reward in “doing” things for the Lord—only in trusting him and leaving life in
his hands. I am still trying to define
myself by what I do; no wonder I am
so disappointed and restless!
Isaiah holds the key.
He is everything I want to be (again, not the man part—I would hate
having to shave every day!). Regardless
of my job and seemingly useless labor, I leave it in God’s hands and trust
him. He knew what he was doing when he
sent Jesus into this world as a baby to bring salvation; I’m pretty sure he
knows what he’s doing putting me in charge of 108 9th graders. After all, as the traditional American
spiritual declares, “He’s got the whole world in His hands”!
