Finding Meaning in Our Labor

It was the fall of 2008, I had just returned from spending the summer ‘up north’ ministering. In my quiet time the Lord said He needed me to step down as the chaplain of one of the last racing organizations we ministered in. The faltering economy had taken it’s toll on many of the groups we raced and ministered in leaving only a handful.

At that point, I wasn’t sure what I was suppose to do. It seemed like the Lord was shutting down the ministry, or at least removed me from what I had been doing. He led us to help with a local church plant in a small town 30 miles south of our home. I thought He might have me help with their 20 something ministry, so I volunteered to minister there and with the tech department in the church. There was no connection…N O T H I N G. I was mystified by our Lords silence. I had never experienced anything of this nature. I felt like all I was doing was spinning my wheels.

We spent roughly 9 months helping at that church, as we could, before the Lord led us to start Dragstory.com. He used that season to ‘transition’ us from church/evangelist style ministry to marketplace ministry. Yes, we birthed a new ministry out of our desert experience, one that I would have not sought had it not been for Him removing us from active ministry at the races.

The Lord calls some to pastor a church or be involved with a certain type of ministry for a life time. However, most of us are called to minister right where we are in life to those we see every day. We have found that everything has purpose for the Lord even when we can not see what He is doing.

Blessings

Finding Meaning in Our Labor
by Os Hillman

“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.’” Isaiah 49:4

Have you ever felt like you’re spending your life using your talent for nothing? Life is often spent doing mundane activities that seem to have little eternal purpose.

The great prophet Isaiah was struggling with his own purpose. He knew he was chosen to be a voice for God, yet life became purposeless for Isaiah. We all go through periods when our purpose seems to be clouded with the mundane. We see little meaning in life. On the other hand, Isaiah didn’t stay in this place. We read in this passage that he knew the truth of his existence. He could look past his present circumstance and know that his real reward and purpose would be revealed in eternity. He knew that God was just and fair, so he placed his faith on this truth.

When life appears to lack meaning and purpose, remember that if you devote your life to the purposes He has for you, the fruits of your labor will be manifested in due time. “The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).