What Profit will a Prophet Receive? - Bruce Atchison

 I must admit that this month's writing prompt makes me feel embarrassed. I can't think of ANY meaningful way in which I've ministered to the body of Christ. No flood of testimonials have ever piled up in my e-mail IN box about how my How I Was Razed memoir or blogging revolutionized somebody's life. Neither have I received an abundance of article publication offers from Christian magazines.

There are days when it seems like I'm just filling in time rather than accomplishing something for the Lord. I feel guilty for being ineffective and I'm ashamed of my failures.


Even so, I take comfort in Old Testament prophets who weren't heeded. They didn't fail because nobody listened to them. God even told them they wouldn't be taken seriously. Zechariah 1:4 (KJV) says, "Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings:' but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD."

I also take comfort in the fact that God will reward us for good works which we didn't even know we did. Matthew 25:37 (KJV) reads, "Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, 'Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?'" This shows that we have no idea of the ultimate end of what we've done to and for the Lord.

In those frequent moments of discouragement, I remind myself that what I do now can be greatly used by God for his glory, even if it seems like a futile effort now. My hope and prayers are that my latest book and my blog will be edifying and a great comfort to my fellow believers in the long run.