Where's Your Strength?

Isaiah 49:1b,3-4: "Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name . . . . 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.'"


If one surveyed the lives of the prophets of Judah before and during the Babylonian invasions (605-586 BC), one would see a trend of overwhelming ministry difficulty in trying to teach repentance to an obstinate people who refused to listen to the calls of obedience to the Lord.


Isaiah certainly was no different. He knew that he had been called by God (even before his birth) to herald the urgency of his people surrendering to the Sovereign LORD; still, the ministry task was not an easy one. The people of Judah had followed a path of rebellion like their northern brothers (who had already reached their demise at the hand of the Assyrians). The Judeans seemed not to heed the warning of judgment that had befallen the norther tribes; thus, God sent Isaiah to warn His people that the same fate would find them if they did not repent.


Isaiah quickly noticed that his ministry was not effectual. He felt that his calling to preach repentance was an utter failure because no one responded to his message. Isaiah easily could have given in to the struggles associated with ministry; but he knew that God was honored by his obedience, even though his efforts were not generating any responses. Isaiah was strengthened by the assurances of the Lord that the prophet was right where he was supposed to be.


God told Isaiah that he was being too myopic in his understanding of his calling to Judah (Jacob). God was working out His redemptive plan that would extend beyond the Jewish community in which Isaiah served. God instructed Isaiah that he would be a light to the Gentiles so that salvation would come to the "ends of the earth" (49:6). And of course to this very day, both Jews and Gentiles feast upon the Words of the Lord proclaimed through Isaiah, as revelatory of the Messiah, Jesus Christ . . . the "Redeemer and Holy One of Israel who was despised and abhorred by the nation" (49:7). Isaiah may have only seen his ministry as being to a specific people at a specific time; however, God saw that the obedience of Isaiah in dictating the coming advent of the Lord Jesus Christ would be a source of strength and hope for generations to come. To be sure, God was working out His redemptive plan through the prophet, even though Isaiah could not see how that plan was being worked out. Still, Isaiah was resolved to follow God's dictates, for He was strengthened in knowing that God was glorified through his obedience.


In the historical book, the Ascension of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah is recorded to have died under the reign of the wicked King Manasseh (698-642 BC). This is very likely, given that 2 Kings 21:16 records that "Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end." Josephus also records in his Antiquities 10:37 that Manasseh slew all the righteous men of Judah so that Jerusalem was "overflowing with blood." I wonder sometimes as Isaiah was being led to his execution what he was thinking. Was he reflecting upon his uneventful ministry? Was we wondering about the lack of response to his message of repentance . . . and how that message brought him to his imminent death? These are quite possible; however, I also believe that his resolve to serve the Lord (being strengthened by the assurances that the Lord was honored by his obedience) carried him to the very end.


We would do well to remember the life of Isaiah as a source of encouragement when we find ourselves capitulating to the "stressors" that come with our surrender to the Lord. God never promised that the path of obedience would be easy. But He has assured us that our faithfulness to Him, despite the circumstances and outcome, would bring honor to Him as the Sovereign King of Kings. He will not neglect such faithful obedience; in fact, even now, He may be using our "focused determination" to accomplish even greater things for His kingdom than we could ever imagine. Let us press on for the Lord, knowing not only that He is our strength, but He is the reason for all of our efforts. Let us keep our eyes on Him and not our circumstances or outcomes. And let us hope in the joyous, eternal fellowship that we will have with Him, when He will open our eyes to a fuller appreciation of what our diligent endeavors have accomplished . . . through His mighty power!