What is the point?

What is the point of all that we do in this life?

We struggle to become like Jesus, make a small gain and then fall right back into our old behavior.

We work to serve others, to love them and help them, only to have our service rejected and misunderstood.

We strive with all our being to live as a witness, a light, to those we love, yet no one will listen.

We labor to create beauty in our own little piece of the world, then watch it all descend back into chaos.

Why do we bother? Why should we continue to persevere when there is so little to show for our travail?

Take heart, dear one.

Nothing done for our Father is ever wasted.

Nothing.

Every choice made to do the right thing, every resistance of the wrong,

every kind word to a stranger, every meal cooked for a friend,

every flower planted, every toilet cleaned,

every word written, every note sung,

all of it is used by our King to bring His kingdom more fully to this earth.

God sees it all, the outward action and the inner thought, and none of it is wasted.

What is the point?

We pray for it every time we say the Lord’s Prayer: we pray that His name will be holy, that His kingdom will come, and that His will shall be done, and all of this to be done on earth exactly as it is done in heaven.

The point is heaven and earth becoming one, the whole of creation becoming new again, the point is nothing less than God Himself dwelling with His restored and remade people.

That is the point.

So do not be discouraged when you see no result from all of your effort. Do not lose hope when all seems for nothing.

Our Father has promised. Nothing that we do for Him will be wasted.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. ~ I Corinthians 15.58

Take courage and press on. The Holy Spirit is working within our most feeble efforts and will bring the most astounding beauty out of it all.

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Art credit: all photographs are copyright Made Sacred 2020