It’s a job posting few would ever volunteer for: serve faithfully for 40 to 60 years, knowing in advance that your message will be rejected and that the people you’re called to serve will face God’s judgment. Yet this was the assignment God gave Isaiah in Isaiah 6. Isaiah would preach the truth, exposing the idolatry and immorality of God’s people, but his ministry would never enjoy what we might call success.
As Darrell Johnson reminds us, God’s word always accomplishes something. But sometimes, it hardens hearts. Ray Ortlund puts it this way: “Every time you hear the Word of God preached, you come away from that exposure to his truth either a little closer to God or a little further away from God, either more softened toward God or more hardened toward God. But you are never just the same.”
I used to think that if we served faithfully, it would be hard, but God would generally bless our efforts with visible results. And sometimes he does. But often, for reasons we can’t understand, faithful service yields little that we can see.
I think of a friend whose father began his ministry with great promise. When he started serving in Toronto, his ministry faced one obstacle after another. The longer he served, the harder things became. By the end of his ministry, none of the early promise seemed realized.
He’s not alone. John Chrysostom, the “Golden-Mouthed” preacher, faced political persecution, was exiled twice for boldly preaching against corruption, and died in exile. John Newton, the former slave trader turned pastor, wrestled with guilt over his past, health struggles, and skepticism from those who doubted the authenticity of his conversion. Charles Simeon endured years of opposition from his own congregation. And Tom Carson, D.A. Carson’s father, served faithfully in Quebec, never pastored a large church, and often felt like a failure.
In my own life, I think of countless friends who serve in relative obscurity, never seeing the kind of recognition or fruitfulness we might expect. God sometimes gives hard assignments.
We’re called to serve, but we’re not in charge of the results. If God chooses to harden hearts through our ministries, that’s God’s prerogative. Isaiah’s preaching accomplished exactly what God intended. Isaiah 6:9-10, which describes the rejection of Isaiah’s message, serves as a paradigm for ministry. It’s quoted directly five times in the New Testament and underpins two additional Pauline passages. Preach Christ, and rejection may come, but God’s purposes will always prevail.
Isaiah was called to bring God’s word, but the results weren’t up to him. In fact, God told him in advance that his preaching would harden hearts rather than lead to repentance. Even so, Isaiah’s ministry accomplished exactly what God intended.
Some of God’s choicest servants are like Isaiah. They’re given hard assignments. They don’t look like great successes by earthly standards, but they are faithful, and in God’s eyes, they are successful.
So, keep preaching. Keep serving. Stop keeping score. Trust that God is at work, even when you can’t see it. Your ministry isn’t a failure. It’s accomplishing exactly what God intends, and that’s enough.