AT TIMES I HAVE FELT that my work in ministry was wasted. My prayers did not appear to be answered. My sermons did not seem to change lives. My counseling did not appear to help people. My evangelism won no converts. My leadership initiatives were ignored. My discipling of others seemed to bring no growth. Even in the areas of my strongest gifting, my efforts have occasionally looked utterly ineffective.

At such times I identify with the apparent contradiction described in Isaiah 49:1-4. There God speaks of his high purpose for his people, comparing them to a sharpened sword and a polished arrow for divine use. "You are my servant, Israel," the Lord concludes, "in whom I will display my splendor."

But the servant of the Lord has quite a different feeling. "I have labored to no purpose;" he replies. "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." In apparent futility, the servant can only console himself with his ...