Are you in a pothole? Being perplexed is a normal Christian experience (2 Cor 4:7-12). When Abraham left everything behind and ventured by faith to the Promised Land, God afflicted that land with a famine. Tragically, Abraham, unlike our Lord, turned stones in the Promise Land into bread, outside of God's will. Eating bread in Egypt almost cost Abraham his life and his wife's purity. Moses first embraced the hardness of Pharaoh's heart before saving Israel. And Christ and his apostles embraced to death the hardness of the Jewish authorities and the Roman Empire.
Do you want to be lifted out of your pothole? The dialogue between God and his anonymous servant—fulfilled in Jesus Christ—aims to empower us. The servant is as capable of establishing God's kingdom by his speaking, as a sharp sword and polished arrow to win the battle. But he remains hidden and unused (vv.1-2). Moreover, he exhausted himself to fulfill his mission to restore Israel to God, but has nothing to show for his labour (v.4a). But the servant triumphed, for he knew that God would honour him (v.5b) and that God must reward his efforts (v.4b). As it turned out, through Israel's rejection of him he accomplished something far greater: he brought salvation to the world (v.6).
So don't lose heart. As you give your life for Christ, remember that it is a sweet savour to God and a perfume to the world. Count on God, not mortals, to reward you.
