5/21/2025

1 Hear me, O isles; listen, you distant peoples: Jehovah called me before I was in the belly; before I was in my mother’s womb, he mentioned me by name.

2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword—in the shadow of his hand he hid me. He has made me into a polished arrow—in his quiver he kept me secret.

3 He said to me, You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4 I had thought, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose! Yet my cause rested with Jehovah, my recompense with my God. (Isaiah 48, Avraham Gileadi Translation)

How sad is it to learn that you have labored in vain, or to learn that the good you have pursued is not good, or that the decisions you have made, believing they were wise, were actually quite foolish? Such a realization can break your heart.

Inversely, it is easy to get discouraged when it seems that all the work and sacrifice you have made for righteousness’ sake seem to be going nowhere. Such will be the plight of the End-time Servant(s) who labor in obscurity, who seem to be getting nowhere in proclaiming the cause of Zion; and yet, when all seems lost, and everything seems to be for naught, suddenly the saplings of Zion shall rise as tiny sprouts from the ashes.

So don’t get discouraged when everything seems to be lost. No sacrifice for righteousness’ sake is a loss. And eventually, we will all be surprised at what God will do with them.

https://www.isaiahexplained.com/chapter/49