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Thursday, January 13, 2011
Not in Vain in the Lord
"We must not measure life by any earthly standard. There are lives the world crowns as successful but that Heaven rates as failures. And there are other lives some may pity, but, in God's sight, are noble successes. Earnest Christians bless others truly for Christ, but there may seem to be little result. Yet we do not know what good may come out of a true work that has at first appeared to fail. 'Your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Results may not come immediately, but they will somewhere, sometime. Outside the mill, a waterwheel turns and seems to accomplish nothing. But inside, machinery makes flour to feed the hungry. Our lives may seem, with all their activities, to produce no result, but who knows what blessings they shall become, what impressions they leave on other lives for eternity?" ~J. R. Miller
So very true! I love J R Miller's writings. This is such an encouragement to keep our eyes on the eternal work and not fret over perceived failure. Thank you Joy, this has blessed me tonight! joy in Christ..Trish
Praise God that He is in control and when we Know that we are where God wants us to be we will see results, but just not when we want to seem them it seems! As a stay at home daughter, being at home at times seems as if its not the right thing to do. Why didn't I just go to Africa and adopt a whole bunch of orphans and tell them about the Lord. But then I remember! thats not what God has for me, He wants me here with my family. He wants me here where I live to be a light for Him. My mission field is here at home. Through hospitality, church, and other places I go I can leave a marK on peoples lives for eternity. Praise God that He is in control and gave me the vision to live life where He wants me at home with my family and friends.
This quote really helped me this morning, to remember that being home is Gods place for me right now.
Thank you so much for writing and sharing your heart with me! I know what you mean. Before I got married, I thought maybe God wanted me to be a missionary to Africa. I went to Bible school and prepared my heart for missions. Then I came home and got married! Every once in a while I still have thoughts about how what I'm doing isn't very much. I write these posts for myself, often, as a reminder and encouragement! When I get this restless feeling like it isn't enough, I look at my five children and remember that yes, this is a ministry, and it is very important. And this ministry to my husband is also important. As long as I'm really ministering to them and not just "being here," if you know what I mean.
You're so right...we serve God wherever we are and whatever we do. And it all matters to Him. Hospitality, encouraging others, serving everyone who comes into our path--it all matters and it all counts as ministry.
Do you read Katie's blog (w/ Amazima Ministries)? I follow her blog, and every time I read it I cry. She does so much loving and serving that it makes me feel so small and selfish. But she's such an inspiration to obey the Lord's call to serve *wherever He sends us*, whether it's in a far away country or right here at home. As long as our hearts are right and submitted to Him.
May you be blessed today as you serve the Lord right where you are!
I loved this quote, Joy. It holds so much truth in it! And the analogy with the mill and waterwheel illustrates this truth well. As I read, it brought to mind the verse “the first shall be last and the last first” (which consequently, I just read in my Bible this morning :), and it seems to relate to this. We may appear ‘last’ and not rising to importance among men and being ‘successful’, but that doesn’t matter as long as we are serving the Lord where He desires us to be serving.
The verse quoted in this section by J. R. Miller is so encouraging in regards to this . . . our labor is indeed not in vain in the Lord. He sees and knows . . . and may our heart’s desire be to quietly serve Him in accordance with His Word, and not to be seeking the acclaim of men or physical/material rewards for our labors. But instead, may it be all for the Lord’s glory and for that “imperishable crown”!
By the way, I love the graphic that you have at the beginning of this post. So beautiful and sweet!
11 comments:
So very true!
I love J R Miller's writings. This is such an encouragement to keep our eyes on the eternal work and not fret over perceived failure. Thank you Joy, this has blessed me tonight!
joy in Christ..Trish
Thanks for sharing this, Joy.
Praise God that He is in control and when we Know that we are where God wants us to be we will see results, but just not when we want to seem them it seems! As a stay at home daughter, being at home at times seems as if its not the right thing to do. Why didn't I just go to Africa and adopt a whole bunch of orphans and tell them about the Lord. But then I remember! thats not what God has for me, He wants me here with my family. He wants me here where I live to be a light for Him. My mission field is here at home. Through hospitality, church, and other places I go I can leave a marK on peoples lives for eternity. Praise God that He is in control and gave me the vision to live life where He wants me at home with my family and friends.
This quote really helped me this morning, to remember that being home is Gods place for me right now.
In Christ,
Rebecca
Wise words indeed....thanks so much for sharing...blessings
Dear Rebecca,
Thank you so much for writing and sharing your heart with me! I know what you mean. Before I got married, I thought maybe God wanted me to be a missionary to Africa. I went to Bible school and prepared my heart for missions. Then I came home and got married! Every once in a while I still have thoughts about how what I'm doing isn't very much. I write these posts for myself, often, as a reminder and encouragement! When I get this restless feeling like it isn't enough, I look at my five children and remember that yes, this is a ministry, and it is very important. And this ministry to my husband is also important. As long as I'm really ministering to them and not just "being here," if you know what I mean.
You're so right...we serve God wherever we are and whatever we do. And it all matters to Him. Hospitality, encouraging others, serving everyone who comes into our path--it all matters and it all counts as ministry.
Do you read Katie's blog (w/ Amazima Ministries)? I follow her blog, and every time I read it I cry. She does so much loving and serving that it makes me feel so small and selfish. But she's such an inspiration to obey the Lord's call to serve *wherever He sends us*, whether it's in a far away country or right here at home. As long as our hearts are right and submitted to Him.
May you be blessed today as you serve the Lord right where you are!
♥ Joy
Joy,
Oh, how I needed to hear these words today. They truly brought joy into my heart. Thank you for sharing them.
-Lady Rose
I loved this quote, Joy. It holds so much truth in it! And the analogy with the mill and waterwheel illustrates this truth well. As I read, it brought to mind the verse “the first shall be last and the last first” (which consequently, I just read in my Bible this morning :), and it seems to relate to this. We may appear ‘last’ and not rising to importance among men and being ‘successful’, but that doesn’t matter as long as we are serving the Lord where He desires us to be serving.
The verse quoted in this section by J. R. Miller is so encouraging in regards to this . . . our labor is indeed not in vain in the Lord. He sees and knows . . . and may our heart’s desire be to quietly serve Him in accordance with His Word, and not to be seeking the acclaim of men or physical/material rewards for our labors. But instead, may it be all for the Lord’s glory and for that “imperishable crown”!
By the way, I love the graphic that you have at the beginning of this post. So beautiful and sweet!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Sarah! I'm so thankful if anything I post is an encouragement to others!
Thank you for sharing this. :) We mommys are doing a very important work, even if we feeling like all we do is clean up mess and changing diapers.
Hi Tanya,
You are so right! I have to remind myself of this often. :)
Me too, Joy!! :D
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