Have you ever done something and had it completely fall apart around you? Started a project that just crumbled around you as you tried to carry it out? Had a wonderful idea that once you started to put it in motion you realized that it was not going to succeed?
What is success? We each measure our own success differently. It is the amount of money we make? The number of people we get to come to something we do? The number of people that tell us how good we are? The number of people touched by our lives and the way we do something?
I do not believe our thoughts on what success is is really what success is. Jesus has an idea of what our actions should produce, and this is not what we want. Paul tells the Corinthians “Therefore, my beloved,* be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.” Anything we do that we do in the mission of the Lord is not done in vain, even if we do not get the results we want. But be careful… This does not mean if you do something and say you are doing it for God that it is in the mission of God, or it is something that Jesus really wants you to do. Labor for the Lord is done in His mission for His glory, not for the glory of those doing the action. God is in control, this much is true, but I have seen and heard this phrase used by those that may not have been doing what is God’s mission to get their own desires, and fulfilling their own needs. Labor in the Lord requires time of prayer and discernment. It requires time of worship and time spent with Jesus to hear Him and understand what He is calling you to do.
So hold tight to Jesus, giving your life to Him and living in His love and mercy, following the path He has set before you, and then you can be sure that your labor will not be in vain.
aSacredRebel 