Ministry Remnants: Rewards from Unexpected Places

Maybe the path of suffering is necessary to answer our deepest, truest prayer.

Today we considered this text: "...God rewards those who diligently seek Him." It is clear that the reward in mind is God Himself and it is Him we are to seek supremely. I often remember Lewis' reminder: if we make God our sole pursuit, all else is thrown in. Invert the order and lose all. Jesus said as much more than once, of course, primarily in the oft-quoted text "seek ye first the Kingdom of God...."

But I didn't want to miss the truth that God also rewards us in general, so I tossed out that reminder with this caveat: God rewards us but often the rewards are in disguise. Certainly they do not come when we want them or in the shape or quantity we wish. And they especially come in ways we could never expect.

I remembered how true this was for a dear friend. His son began adult life with painfully bad choices, leaving him poor, sometimes bitter, lonely, disappointed. My friend felt deep remorse, blaming himself. The son, for his part, eventually owned his own fault and began to make amends and develop zealous responsibility. 

My friend wished for the 'reward' of a son with grandchildren and a stable, godly home. He eventually got a godly son, sans home and grandchildren. Then, much to his deep joy, his son developed a large, entrepreneurial ministry that far surpassed anything my friend ever hoped to see. The son began to live out the deepest prayers of his father. 

The reward came by painful means; it came by circuitous route; and it looked nothing like my friend thought it would. And yet it was the answer to his deepest, un-uttered prayer.

Maybe the path of suffering is necessary to answer our deepest, truest prayer.