Does God go back...
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Does God go back before we are born to make us his servant? My mother prayed that I would be a pastor and a missionary before I was born! I didn't get the message until I was about thirty! When I was ordained, my mom said to the lady next to her, "This is what I have prayed for all my life!" They were killed in an accident on the way home from my ordination! Was that the Lord's timing? It took over forty more years before the second part of her prayer was answered and I became a missionary. The Lord's timing is beyond our understanding! Had God planned that for me before my mother prayed for me to become God's servant?
How many times have I said and heard other pastors say, "All my efforts are for nothing! My church is not growing like I hoped! Even if my words were powerful!" We need to realize that our reward is in the Lord's hands. Why is it so hard for any of us to leave things in God's hands? I keep praying that all my children will come to know the Lord, and there are still some who have not turned their lives over to him. I look for those powerful, sword-edged words to win them! Why don't they work for me when I want them to work? Even my folks died before all their prayers for me were answered, so why do I expect God to do the job while I am still alive? His timing is not our timing.
Who knows what the work of our lives will do. I have read about the lives of some missionaries who never saw the result of their ministry. The ones who were killed by that tribe in South America they were trying to save never saw what a powerful message they left behind. Not only did their family complete the work, but the story of their sacrifice inspired many other young people to become missionaries.
God knew that Jesus would be despised and also that many of his followers from that day to this would suffer for their message of him. When Jesus died, it looked like his whole life was a failure! Even his disciples thought so! Isaiah is telling us not to give up! Don't sit around looking for an earthly reward! Just do your job -- the calling he has given you -- and leave the rest up to him.
How many times have I said and heard other pastors say, "All my efforts are for nothing! My church is not growing like I hoped! Even if my words were powerful!" We need to realize that our reward is in the Lord's hands. Why is it so hard for any of us to leave things in God's hands? I keep praying that all my children will come to know the Lord, and there are still some who have not turned their lives over to him. I look for those powerful, sword-edged words to win them! Why don't they work for me when I want them to work? Even my folks died before all their prayers for me were answered, so why do I expect God to do the job while I am still alive? His timing is not our timing.
Who knows what the work of our lives will do. I have read about the lives of some missionaries who never saw the result of their ministry. The ones who were killed by that tribe in South America they were trying to save never saw what a powerful message they left behind. Not only did their family complete the work, but the story of their sacrifice inspired many other young people to become missionaries.
God knew that Jesus would be despised and also that many of his followers from that day to this would suffer for their message of him. When Jesus died, it looked like his whole life was a failure! Even his disciples thought so! Isaiah is telling us not to give up! Don't sit around looking for an earthly reward! Just do your job -- the calling he has given you -- and leave the rest up to him.
