Along with the wonderful description of Jesus seen in this passage, I have a bunch of stray thoughts as well.Read Isaiah 49-53 here
When this passage says “from the womb he called me by name” I can’t discern who he is talking about. In verse three it sounds like he’s speaking of Israel metaphorically. Verse 1, 2 & 4 sound more like they are describing Isaiah. And verses 5-7 sound like Jesus. I don’t think Jesus would be saying “my work seems so useless”, and I don’t see Isaiah as a “light to the Gentiles”…that’s clearly The Lord.
But the phrase “work seems so useless” catches my eye this morning. There have been times when I have thought “this is pointless, why do all this when no one recognizes or appreciates it… and whoever comes behind me will likely change it all anyway?” Think of it, how many of the things that we do everyday, that occupy so much of our time, would not even be missed if we quit doing them? There are times I feel useless when someone who has been growing in Christ suddenly (or gradually) drifts back into sin. Let’s be honest: there are days when the work seems useless.
You might say “Oh, but people do appreciate it, and they DO recognize what you do” Well, to be honest, that’s wonderful, but it doesn’t make the work any less useless, right? Just because someone thinks you are doing a wonderful job doesn’t make your job important, or even necessary. The only thing that truly matters is how Jesus feels about it.
That’s what the last several days of devotions have been saying to me. Significance is found only in the long view, the eternal view. As humans we can see only the short term (even when we are at our best). God’s will and His plan can easily take generations to play out. Do you see how easily He speaks of the present while talking about what will happen in 80 years? And while he is speaking of that, right in the middle of a thought he includes a description of Jesus, who will not appear for 600(+) years.
It seems to me that the people in exile will soon be saying “God, you have forgotten us” because they will see their children die, and their future will be slavery. They will cry out for almost 70 years before God moves on their behalf and delivers them. So those who are born and die while in slavery could think that serving the Lord is pointless. They wouldn’t understand the larger picture of success followed by pride and arrogance, which leads to false worship and ends in punishment by slavery…and then the humility gained from that experience leads to repentance, restoration and success once again. That particular cycle on a national scale will take 520 years (the period of the kings). And God speaks of it as if it will all happen in one person’s lifetime.
Maybe that’s because (as I am beginning to understand) that God isn’t influenced by time like we are. We see everything through the lens of time, it is our unchanging, irreversible truth… To everything there is a beginning and an end. But in heaven, that isn’t true. In heaven God has no beginning or end, and He lives outside of the constraints that time has placed on our understanding. So when God speaks, we get a small glimpse of what humanity looks like from His perspective. It’s the longer view, for sure…and the most correct one.
In God’s way of seeing things, our suffering and struggles are never pointless or useless. It didn’t matter if anyone listened to the prophets or not, whether they repented or not. From the prophet’s perspective I’m sure they felt useless…but looking at it from God’s perspective the prophet did exactly what they were supposed to do; warn the people to change their ways. That’s what God wanted from them, and any response isn’t held against them, or if the people DO respond with humility…they don’t get the credit.
So if God wants us to do something for our entire life that seems pointless to us, let’s remember that it makes perfect sense in the longer view that we can’t see. We may die never realizing what the whole picture looked like…that’s okay…we are only a small part of a much larger tapestry anyway.
Chapter 52-53
“It was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief” Of course we look back the significance of the earthly life of Jesus and it all makes sense to us now. But in the first century he was overlooked by most people…that’s what these two chapters are telling us. Think of this: God is revealing to his people who are about to go into exile (and almost cease to exist as a nation) this wonderful truth about the Messiah that won’t happen for nearly 600 more years. This great truth was recorded, memorized and saved for all that time, until the Jews of the first century saw Jesus and attributed to him the fulfillment of it. How wonderful! God’s Word always comes true, even though it might take hundreds of years to happen. In fact, consider the wonderful gift that God is bestowing upon His people, even as He punishes them for straying away. He honors them with this wonderful insight that the church has clung to, quoted and found comfort in for generations.
In fact, it was likely because God knew they would need encouragement in order to survive the exile…and this powerful promise of God provided the hope and encouragement they needed.
Here’s a thought: God has provided us a powerful promise that He will never leave us, and has given us equally powerful images of His eventual victory over death and sin in the Revelation. Perhaps all of this has been shared with us so that we won’t lose heart when we are tasked with going through our own trials. Hmm?
Faithfully,
PR