Too Small a Thing
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This is a repost from April 2004. It just seemed to fit for me this morning. Perhaps it does for you as well
Isaiah 49:1-7
1. Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. 3. And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." 4. But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God." 5. And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength -- 6. he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." 7. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
God gave Isaiah great gifts and graces! He used them obediently and faithfully, as God had directed him! But guess what? God's not done with him! In fact, He hasn't started working In Isaiah toward the "real" plan He had for him. He tells Isaiah, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." In my NIV translation it says, "It is too small a thing."
Do you realize what Isaiah has done for God! Are you aware of how he dedicated his life to obediently carry out every one of God's instructions to him? And he certainly isn't hesitating in these verses to remind God of how hard he's worked! Isaiah attributes his accomplishment to the Lord who from his birth made mention of his name; who was called by the Lord before he was born.
As are we all called by God. He thought us up eons ago! He waited until the exact moment in history for us to be born. He uses each and every joy and hurt, celebration and sorrow to form us to His purpose. We were, after all, made to glorify Him. God tells Isaiah that it's not enough to simply live a holy, righteous life. It's not enough to obey God up to a point then we're released from that obligation because we're tired, because we feel as if we have failed in our task, because no one seems to notice what we've done.
God wants more. And He offers more. He tells us that He knows we're tired. He knows we've labored long and hard for His kingdom. He knows that we feel defeated sometimes. He recognizes that as humans we have a limited capacity. But he reminds us that He knows us better than we know ourselves. And that we are up to the task of doing one thing more, or two things more, or a hundred things more--if that's what is in God's plan. He wants us to let Him decide when we've had enough, when we've done enough.
There are so many times I've felt like an utter failure. So many times I've thought and said, I just don't have it in me anymore. I can't keep this up. I'm speaking here of the spiritual aspect of life. My prayers seem to no avail. My obedience seems to be inconsequential in the big scheme of things. My labor seems in vain. But God wants us to recognize that if we do His work, nothing is in vain, or wasted, or a failure. If we live to glorify God, we have lived well.
Clearly, this is an area of struggle for me this morning! My resources seem depleted sometimes, but I know that God will fortify me toward accomplishing His works. My obedience to His plan for my life allows me to "be a light" for the world. That's no small task. It's no small honor. It's a sign of how much God loves me. That He would entrust me with such important work.
I hope you spend your day as a light for the world, confident that God will give you everything you need to shine!
