The Result Can Matter

“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ … ‘However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’”
Luke 10:17–18, 20

A proposal you cared about is accepted. The answer comes back better than you expected, and for a while the pleasure is simply the pleasure of seeing something work. Then another thought begins attaching itself to the result. Maybe this proves that my idea was great after all. Maybe it proves the effort really was worth it. Before long, the result is doing more than telling me the proposal worked. It is beginning to feel like proof that the whole direction was right.

The seventy-two followers Jesus had sent out came back thrilled. “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (Luke 10:17). Jesus did not deny what had happened. He answered, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Then came the surprising turn: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Maybe Jesus knew how quickly a good result can become more than something we receive with gratitude. Without meaning to, we may begin depending on it to reassure us that what we did mattered, that we understood Him correctly, that He really was with us, or simply that we are still moving in the right direction. Can the result matter without proving I heard Jesus right or that He was really with me in it?

Then Luke adds something easy to miss. After redirecting their joy, Jesus Himself “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (Luke 10:21). The scene does not end with less joy. It ends with Jesus rejoicing. Maybe the result can matter deeply without having to tell me whether I heard Him right or whether He was really guiding me. Luke leaves me wondering if the deeper joy might be right here, right now, simply sharing the life Jesus gives me. What might He already be doing in me or through me today, even before I can see where it leads?

Prayer

Jesus, free me to receive results with gratitude without asking them to prove what only You can show. Help me notice Your work in and through me today, and rejoice with You. Amen.