By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
Do you ever get tired of praying for something you fear will not get answered?
Does it frustrate you to tell a friend or family member about how much Jesus loves them, and they ignore you and tell you to leave them alone?
How does it feel to love someone with all your heart and watch him or her fall in love with someone else?
What do you do when you’ve done everything you know to do to get your child to fall in love with Jesus, but he walks away from the Lord, and years pass without an inkling he’s coming back?
Paul spent 57 verses in 1 Corinthians 15 explaining the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He gave details about how God will raise us from the dead too, and how we will never die again. He announced that death, which so many fear, will not be victorious in the end.
Then, without breaking pace, he concludes in verse 58: “because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Do you know that what you do for Jesus isn’t in vain? Really?
Of course, as a believer, you nod your head at Paul’s statement. You believe God’s Word. You know it’s Truth. But it’s difficult to believe some verses, isn’t it?
When your prayers aren’t answered, when your child challenges everything you’ve taught him from the Word of God and eventually rejects it, when you love somebody with all your heart, and he still chooses to walk away. It’s extremely difficult in those circumstances to believe all your efforts in the Lord will be rewarded.
We need to remember God’s promise when we aren’t seeing any results: “What you are doing, my faithful child, will not be in vain.”
Vain means empty-handed, fruitless, hard work that results in nothing. God says that won’t happen with your dedicated efforts for him.
The results may seem slow to us. You may not see anything happening. You may not feel any progress is being made, but God is working. He has his own timetable and his own way of doing things that differ from ours. God is constantly at work, often behind the scenes, and he will finish what he started (see Philippians 1.6).
We want to pray and have the answer the next day. We would like to share the gospel once with a friend and see him put his faith in Jesus before the conversation ends. We long to see our children and grandchildren progress on their spiritual journey without any doubts, delays, or detours.
But you know these things rarely happen that way. They take time and perseverance on our part to keep praying and to persist in planting the seed of the Word in the hearts and minds of unbelievers and of believers who are struggling with their faith.
Returning to 1 Corinthians 15.58, the phrase we’ve been examining begins with “because.”
Because is a word that gives a reason for what came before it. For example, “I ate the chickpea and kale soup because I didn’t want my girlfriend to cry.” The reason I ate it was that I didn’t want her to cry.
Because your labor in the Lord is not in vain, what should you do?
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
You should stand firm when you begin to entertain doubts and pray and share anyway. You shouldn’t let anything that looks like nothing is happening move you to despair or to give up your work to bring spiritual maturity for those you love. You should always give yourself fully to the work God gave you to do in the battle for your friend or family member’s soul.
Paul repeated this encouragement in his letter to the Galatian believers: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6.9).
Friend, don’t get weary because it’s taking so long. Don’t give up because it looks like nothing is happening. Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself to the work of the Lord.
Why? Because at the proper time, you’ll see a harvest if you don’t give up. Cling to this promise: “At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen” (Isaiah 60.22).
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.