Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Servant of the Lord
Isaiah 49:1-7
Shana Samuel
St. Thomas MTC, NY
4. But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my
strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.”
The book of Isaiah finds
the people of Israel in a rather hopeless situation. The Temple of Jerusalem
has been destroyed and the Israelites are brought into captivity by the
Babylonians. Yet the beginning of Isaiah 49 brings a message of hope: the Lord
is preparing a servant in the womb of his mother. He is Christ the King and He
will show all the nations the glory of God.
God calls each of us to a specific purpose that has been laid out since our birth. Ultimately, our purpose leads to the furthering of His Kingdom here on Earth and the proclamation of the Gospel. So we listen. We wait. And when we hear God’s call, we go. We work and we volunteer and we preach and we sing and we teach. We serve because He calls us to be His servants.
The problem begins when we look at how much and how long we have served and fail to see results. We read that the seed that fell on good soil produced crop that was a hundredfold (Matthew 13:8). So if we are answering the call that God has created us for, where is our crop? Why are our communities broken? Why are our churches stagnant? Why does it feel like our service is fruitless?
I think Jesus sometimes felt like His service on earth was fruitless too. He entered Jerusalem and longed to hold His people like a hen holds her chicks, but they were unwilling (Matthew 23:37). He prayed in Gethsemane with tears and blood while His closest friends slept (Luke 22:44). He died at the hands of those He had come to save.
It is in these bleak moments that we are reminded that we serve not because we are able but because He is faithful to His Word. Our call is accompanied by the promise that God works through us according to His perfect plans. What seems fruitless to us may be preparation for a responsibility far greater than we can imagine.
Friends, when your service seems to be for nothing, remember this: The God who called us in the womb is the same God who called Jesus from the grave. Remain obedient to His calling. The best of God’s plans is yet to come.
God calls each of us to a specific purpose that has been laid out since our birth. Ultimately, our purpose leads to the furthering of His Kingdom here on Earth and the proclamation of the Gospel. So we listen. We wait. And when we hear God’s call, we go. We work and we volunteer and we preach and we sing and we teach. We serve because He calls us to be His servants.
The problem begins when we look at how much and how long we have served and fail to see results. We read that the seed that fell on good soil produced crop that was a hundredfold (Matthew 13:8). So if we are answering the call that God has created us for, where is our crop? Why are our communities broken? Why are our churches stagnant? Why does it feel like our service is fruitless?
I think Jesus sometimes felt like His service on earth was fruitless too. He entered Jerusalem and longed to hold His people like a hen holds her chicks, but they were unwilling (Matthew 23:37). He prayed in Gethsemane with tears and blood while His closest friends slept (Luke 22:44). He died at the hands of those He had come to save.
It is in these bleak moments that we are reminded that we serve not because we are able but because He is faithful to His Word. Our call is accompanied by the promise that God works through us according to His perfect plans. What seems fruitless to us may be preparation for a responsibility far greater than we can imagine.
Friends, when your service seems to be for nothing, remember this: The God who called us in the womb is the same God who called Jesus from the grave. Remain obedient to His calling. The best of God’s plans is yet to come.
PRAYER
Father in Heaven, thank
you for creating me with purpose and passion. May the joy of serving You give
me strength even in the darkest moments of my calling. Amen.
What would it look like if we answered God’s call to service today and moved
forward with complete trust in Him?