Is God expecting you to do big things for him? Is the quiet, little way you are serving in
your family, at work or in the church, enough?
How will I know if I am doing what God wants me to do?
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John
the Baptist today, the Book of Isaiah could be a foreshadowing of John’s
life. It can speak into our lives as
well.
At the beginning of Chapter 49, Isaiah, recalling what he
has heard from the Lord, says:
“You are my servant, he [the Lord] said to me, Israel,
through whom I show my glory. Though I
thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet
my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.”
If you have ever wondered if what you do is a waste of time
and energy, just consider that one of God’s great prophets wondered the same
thing! The Lord, in speaking to Isaiah
of the things Isaiah has done, tells him he has bigger plans, greater than that
which Isaiah can even imagine!
A few verses later Isaiah says:
“It is too little, he [the Lord] says, for you to be my
servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends
of the earth.”
You see, it really isn’t for us to worry about whether our
efforts are big or little in the eyes of God.
More important is our faithfulness to the task at hand and acceptance of
the unfolding of God’s plan—no matter what it looks like.
For Isaiah, the Lord had great plans. He might
have something great in mind for you and I as well, but then again, he might
not. Perhaps what seems insignificant to
us may look completely different in the eyes of God.
This section of Chapter 49 ends with the reminder that it is
the Lord who has chosen us. Isaiah
reminds us as he opens this chapter that it is the Lord who calls us from birth
and names us; it is through us that his glory is shown.
It doesn’t matter if what you do is noticed by others or
not; it doesn’t matter if you see the outcome.
What matters most is that in your faithfulness, God is glorified, and you
are “made glorious in the sight of the Lord.”
Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net (podcasts)
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net (podcasts)
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