When What You Do Seems Useless
“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.”
Isaiah 49:4(NLT)
There’s an obscure verse in Isaiah 49:4 (NLT) that says, “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.” If you’ve ever felt this way, you are in better company than you may think. You may be surprised to discover that you’re listening in on a discourse by Jesus Christ. It was prophetically revealed before Jesus even began His earthly ministry. When Jesus Christ came to earth, we know little of his childhood and even less of his teen and early adult years before 30 when He began His earthly ministry. Apart from His birth and an encounter at the Temple when He was 12 years old, the Gospels concentrate on the three years of His ministry from His baptism to His death, resurrection, and ascension. Imagine, then, for a moment, what it must have been like for the Son of God to grow up in a poor village as a carpenter’s son. So unnoticed and disregarded was this village that even Nathanael, when introduced to the Savior, asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” John 1:46 (NLT)
Consider what it must have been like for Jesus, toiling in Joseph’s carpenter’s shop to make furniture when He spoke the world into being! Imagine those hands that would one day heal the blind, cleanse the leper, and raise the dead, laboring day in and day out with common, ordinary, everyday menial chores.
Ever wondered where Jesus sat when He went to the Synagogue? Most likely, it is in the same place you do, in the crowd listening to the Word being taught that He wrote. It wasn’t until He was 30 years old that He rose in a typical Sabbath gathering at His hometown Synagogue in Nazareth and read from the scroll of Isaiah, the prophet. After He sat down, He said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:21(NIV) Wouldn’t you have loved to have been in that service! In the years prior to His earthly ministry, as well as in those three years of Jesus’ public ministry, there were times when His work seemed in vain. The religious leaders opposed Him, the disciples didn’t always understand Him, and those He healed didn’t always thank Him.
Being both man and God, Jesus lived and labored by faith. Hebrews 2:17 (NIV) says, “For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.” “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered.” Hebrews 5:8 (NLT)
Though I don’t understand it, I take comfort in knowing that if the Son of God lived in obscurity and wrestled with work that seemed useless, and yet He remained faithful and entrusted all that He did into His Father’s hands for eternal gain, I can commit all that I do, even the menial everyday tasks that may never gain earthly recognition, into His hands and trust God for my reward. Maybe that’s why the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:17 (Ampl), “And whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in [dependence upon] His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him.”
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.