Have you ever noticed how result-oriented our lives are? No matter the sphere of life deliverables, deadlines, milestones are constantly used to measure success. In a meeting just yesterday, I was asked to rate my “focus on the final result” on a scale from 1-10. While viewing the worldly success of our actions tends to be natural, this perhaps leads to over-emphasizing ourselves and our abilities, while distracting our focus from God and His Promises.
One of these promises comes from Isaiah 55:10-11. These passages have a few simple messages.
God is sending His word. He has sent His word, in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ; but, He is also actively sending His word out, through His Church, individuals, and organizations like OIM.
God's word accomplishes a purpose. God doesn’t send out His word blindly, it’s sent with a design according to His purposes.
His Purposes will succeed, in ways we may not see or understand. We can have as much faith in this promise as we have in the water cycle.
Looking back at the example of Isaiah, or the other prophets of old, God called them to proclaim His word, and promised reward for their obedience. They believed God, obeyed Him, lived by faith, and died, having yet to receive their promised reward. But God is faithful, “He has planned something better for them so that together with us, we will be made perfect” (Hebrews 11).
Just as with the ancients, God has called us to carry His word and accomplish His purposes. As we serve, it is not our job to judge our effectiveness or the immediate earthly rewards. It is our job to trust and obey.
The aforementioned promises of God should be of great encouragement to us. They give us eternal perspective, changing our mentality of service from being results-oriented to obedience oriented. God will impartially judge the deeds of all, but the metric will not be our perceived success, but our faithfulness.
Let us remember that if our service is for the Lord, it is never in vain. His purposes will succeed, and He will prevail. God is Faithful, He will strengthen us and always keep His promises.
~Written by Isaiah son of our Resource Co-ordinator Sarah
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