“Isaiah replied, “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)
Discouragement; such a bane in our spiritual walk. Our efforts in furthering the Kingdom of God can feel so inadequate. Like Isaiah, we tire of the daily struggle. The lack of results brings us to our knees before God, as our hearts cry out, “My work seems so useless!”
Sowing is tedious work: we till the soil, prepare it for the harvest, put in long hours, without any visible results. Yet, the key to sowing is to remember that, deep in the ground, the seed is going through a transformation. Its coat is being softened in preparation for germination.
I think we often forget this truth when growth doesn’t occur, when circumstances don’t change, when we don’t see answers to our prayers. We grow despondent and that’s precisely where the devil wants us. He whispers, “Your efforts are useless. You’re wasting your time. Nothing’s happening so why don’t you just give up?”
Yet in the midst of his discouragement, Isaiah surrenders all of his hard work, his efforts, his aspirations to God as he remembers that, ultimately, the outcome depends not on his competence or incompetence but in God’s sovereign will. God equips us, He uses us, but ultimately He determines the outcome.
Hold fast to this truth: God never wastes our honest efforts. He can turn even our feeble acts of faith into something useful for His Kingdom. Just keep sowing.