“I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God” (Isaiah 49:4 ESV).
Isaiah penned this as the Israel’s response to His appointment as God’s Messiah. For it would find its fulfillment some 700 years later in the ministry of Jesus Christ. For Christ’s ministry among the Jews might be considered of little success, since they ultimately rejected Him. It was as if all His “labor” and the expenditure of His “strength” was for “nothing.”
Jesus surely felt this way at times. For didn’t He cry out saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37).
Yet even though His earthly ministry may have appeared to be of little consequence at the time, Jesus also knew that His “right,” His just reward, was with the Father. He knew that the “recompense,” the payment for His work was in God’s hands. And so from what appeared to be failure, came the gospel message that turned the world upside down. From apparent defeat, came deliverance for all who would believe.
These words of the Messiah might also express the feeling of the church today. For Christ is our Head and we His body. I know that this verse became my prayer when I became a church planter. There was many a Monday morning (Monday mornings are often hard for pastors) when I would reflect on my labor from the previous week and feel that I had “labored in vain and spent my strength for nothing.” Then I would declare by faith, “Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
When you feel unsuccessful in your work for the Lord, remember nothing you do for God is wasted. As the apostle Paul said, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
PRAYER: Dear Father, when we feel like failures and we feel that we’ve spent our strength for nothing, help us to remember that nothing is wasted that we do for You. Multiply our loaves and fishes that we offer to You. For You make our work matter. In Jesus’ name, amen.