Isaiah 6:11 ESV  Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

How many times have we strugglers asked this question?! Through interminable financial difficulties, through lingering illness, through painful relationships, through unfulfilling work, through unrewarding ministry, we cry out, “HOW LONG!!!”

We think, “God will never give me more than I can bear, but I don’t understand how he can trust me with so much!”

When Isaiah was confronted with the task the Lord had assigned to him, he too cries out, “How long?”

The prophet feels that in the divine counsels there must be a limit to this process of judicial hardening, that it must reach a crisis with a day of hope beyond it. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

God does not give that hope, except to declare that there will be a remnant who will respond.

In Matthew 13 Jesus explains to his disciples why he teaches the people in parables. He uses the words spoken to Isaiah as his explanation, reminding the disciples of the hardness and spiritual dullness that is the spiritual condition of many people during his ministry.

In Acts 28 Paul called together the leaders of the Jews in Rome to explain to them his circumstances and to proclaim to them the gospel. Because of his testimony, a strong disagreement arose among those who were open to Paul’s teaching and those who were not. Paul quotes the words of Isaiah to explain their unwillingness to listen.

In Romans 11 Paul uses the message of Isaiah to explain the rejection of the Jews to the Messiah sent from God to deliver them.

In John 12 John uses the words of Isaiah to explain the reason that people still failed to believe in Jesus, even after the signs he had performed in their midst.

One thing I have learned in ministry is this: the spiritual dullness and power of unbelief is beyond comprehension and the words of Isaiah are as appropriate a description of the condition of people in our day as they were in his:

Isaiah 6:9-10 ESV  And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’  (10)  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Anyone who answers the call of God and thinks that because we are willing to go that people will be willing to receive is under a serious cloud of delusion. We are called to go because people need our ministry, and God is sending us because he wants them to know him, but we cannot harbor any illusions here (or delusions) that the task will be easy or that the work will be immediately rewarding. Much prayer, long hours, heavy heart, and deep spiritual concern await those who enter into a ministry of helping people in need who think they need no help.

Now, I am not trying to be pessimistic, overly skeptical, or deliberately discouraging. I am seeking to present a realistic idea of what to expect in ministry. Are there rewards? YES! Will some people respond? YES! Will there be times of elation and satisfaction? YES! Will this be a bed of roses? NO! NO! NO!

If you don’t understand the full scope of the ministry or the challenges that await you, you will be tempted to give up, start over elsewhere, run and hide, or go back on the call. Don’t you do it!

How long? Until….