Isaiah 49:4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
    and my reward is with my God.”

Even Christ got discouraged! It is perhaps debatable whether this is actually a prophetic quote from the Messiah, or whether it is more personal to Isaiah himself, but discouragement is something everyone, and specifically every servant of God, faces. The first part of this is something the devil loves to whisper in our ears, disguising it as our own thoughts. However, we need to respond in line with the second half of this verse, trusting God not only with ourselves, but also with the results of our labors. Again it is a matter of perspective. We don’t see the ripples that will go down through the years, through the centuries, even, so we don’t know what will be credited to us in eternity. In a sense it’s like multilevel marketing: the person at the top of the chain gets a portion of the profit from everyone down the chain, no matter how many levels down. I can’t forget the example of the evangelist who preached his heart out at evangelistic meetings in rural North Carolina many years ago, only to have just one young man come forward to commit to Christ. That evangelist probably felt this verse in spades, but that one young man was Billy Graham. We simply do not know the results of our labors, so we need to yield everything to God and focus on being faithfully obedient, whether we see any results or not.

This is certainly applicable to me, as it was to my parents. My father once prostrated himself before the Lord and cried out, “God, if I am standing in the way of revival in Japan, then take me out of the way!” As a young single missionary he had visited the Shantung Revival in China, so he knew what revival looked like (so he thought) and he didn’t see it in Japan. As it was, the Lord took him home at 64 with a hearty, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Only God can count all the people my father drew to salvation and discipleship, both personally and by extension. I’ve had a taste of that myself, with a successful pastor saying to me, “You said something to me X years ago that completely changed the direction of my ministry.” To be honest, I didn’t remember having met him! Our congregation here certainly isn’t large, but several active ministers have gone out from here, and I have spiritual children literally around the world. Right now I have about 1,000 people subscribed to my blog, and I have no idea who most of them are – but God knows! I am not to seek to “be successful,” but rather to be faithfully obedient, leaving all the consequences up to my Lord.

Father, thank You for this encouraging reminder. Thank You for all the spiritual children You have given me. Thank You for the group from Taiwan that was here yesterday. Some of them had been here before, and they specifically wanted to come back. I never expected to have spiritual children in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, but I have all that, and more. May all of Your purposes for me be fulfilled, on Your schedule, for Your kingdom and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!