A precision instrument

This week is on Isaiah 49:1-4:

Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from my birth he has made mention of my name.

He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.

He said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand,
and my reward is with my God."

These verses are beautiful like poetry. Isaiah starts off by saying that before he was even born, God had a purpose for him. As soon as he entered the world, God acknowledged him. God molded him into a precision weapon for His use. God's protection and calling are on him. And yet after all of his years being alive, Isaiah sees no results for his work. It seems like it's all been for nothing. His only hope is that God will reward him anyway.

How often do we labor without seeing the results of what we've done? How often do we get discouraged and not realize what we're doing? If you read further in the chapter, you'll find that God gives quite a reward, but at the point where Isaiah writes, he can't anticipate it.

We all have a purpose. God doesn't just create stuff that has no meaning or function. Sometimes we're even lucky enough to know at the time or in advance what it is we're here for. The rest of the time, we may never know, or we may only find out long afterwards. Even when we know we're doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing, and living exactly as we've been asked, it's difficult to see what it's producing.

God is great. Isaiah does a great job in praising him, pointing out how precise God made his words, and how he can be sent accurately over long distances to deliver them. There are special traits embedded in us as well, whether we see them or not. We're all custom made. God is so wonderful to be able to produce us all individually, and to have such a complex universe that allows us to play a part and participate in his plans.

God is good. He will give us our reward. He cares enough about us to sculpt us into forms he imagined before we were even born, and to breathe his life into us. Why would he quit there? His hand is on our lives for the rest of eternity, not just in the moment of our creation or salvation.

Be glad for what God has made you to be. Don't worry if you can't see it all at once. Just be thankful and obedient, and enjoy the life he's given you.