God as our Reward, our Recompense

In today's first reading, Isaiah 49: 1-6,  Israel shares the following realization with us: "Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.... ...I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!"

Think of a time when you felt this way. For instance, you went out of your way fulfilling your responsibilities as a parent, a teacher, a counselor, a leader of your company, a supervisor and your efforts are met with sarcasm, rudeness, and/or meanness.  The person whom you were guiding gently, calmly, and honestly turns against you, lashes out at you, and turns the table on you, accepting no responsibility for the behavior that needs changing.  Imagine yourself leaving that situation and talking to the Lord about your frustration. Imagine also that you providentially open the Bible to Isaiah 49: 1-6 and read: "Though I thought I had toiled in vain and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.....I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength."

Whenever we encounter difficulties and come away  wondering whether our efforts were for nought, weather we toiled uselessly, we need to remember  that our "reward is with the Lord, [our] recompense is with God." In difficult encounters, it is our responsibility, as Christians, to imitate Jesus' behaviors of compassionate, caring and honest communication. No matter the outcome, if we remained respectful of the other person, kept our cool and were honest about what needs to be addressed, we then can be assured that  "our reward is with the Lord and our recompense is with God." Any desire to retaliate or to angrily force our feedback in efforts to make the other person acknowledge inappropriate behavior dissipates when our focus is on the Lord.

I hope that this has been your experience, also, when encountering challenging episodes in guiding others under your supervision or leadership. May God bless you!