"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)
This verse really struck me in my quiet time a couple of weeks ago. (I’ve had this post written in my mind since then, but haven’t had time to sit at the keyboard and get it in written form.) It struck me, of course, because I’m very success driven and because too often I derive my self-worth from “my” achievements.
I’ve had several conversations with one person who has been asking how to measure success as a second chair leader. This question recognizes the ambiguities of our roles. After all, children or youth or small group leaders often have tangible results, but a second chair leader is responsible for everything and nothing at the same time.
In these conversations, I’ve been reminded how much I like to measure progress and to be successful - growth in our congregation, people whose lives I’ve impacted, number of books sold! And then God points me back to Isaiah 49:4 and reminds me that these external benchmarks are not the true measure.
Well, there’s my confession. Are you content to trust in God for your reward, even if it seems that you’re laboring to no purpose? How have you dealt with this tension?
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2 comments:
This has certainly been a stuggle for me at times. I look around and don't see alot of people that I'm personally mentoring or leading to the Lord, so I wonder if what I'm doing is the best thing for me to be doing.
But then I think about how my position allows to me to make it easier for other people to bear fruit, and I get really excited. Maybe I'm not catching fish, but I'm helping to make better nets so that other people can bring in a boatload of fish...
Which is to say that the second chair can be a tough place to find a measurement of success if we don't understand our role. I think it's important to know what you're called to in your situation, and then evaluate yourself by that. Don't look to the results of your first chair or the results of those you're leading; understand the place God's put YOU in, and flourish there. Know what you are and are NOT supposed to be doing, and find contentment in that.
And on a personal note, I beg for all of your prayers this week. I'm facilitating a roundtable of local church administrators in our movement, which is the first meeting of this kind, and I'm overwhelmed. I just pray that we honor God and help to advance His kingdom in what we're doing.
This one really hits home with me! I have been going through sort of an "identity crisis" lately as my role continues to change. We're transitioning from the "Church with" to the "Church of Small Groups," and sometimes I'm not sure what my role is in all this? So, along with remembering "my reward" I've needed to remind myself that it doesn't matter what my role is, as long as God gets the glory. Thanks for this blog. Blessings!
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