in the scheme of things

This is one of the verses I feel like the Lord gave me to hold on to during 2016.

I've listed below a bunch of translations of that verse that I got online from BibleGateway.com – and excellent site where all kinds of different translations & paraphrases can be accessed.

There are a LOT of different translations available.

The majority of the ways translators & paraphrasers handled the parts of the verse I've underlined in each version was to say that our work for the Lord “is not in vain.”

But it is interesting to see how each of these groups of people have expressed what is written in the original Greek.

I don't know you may be in your life.

If you feel like you're just kind of slogging along, not meaning a lot lot to yourself or to others, maybe this verse is for you.

Maybe you're working hard in a definitive way & place, but you just wonder how all this lines up with the overarching plan for humankind, maybe this verse is for you.

Maybe you feel clueless about your life – maybe you feel like the Lord has put you in an attic closet up on a high shelf over in the far dark corner of that shelf – then maybe this vere is for you.

Or maybe you're in any of a plethora of places – if this verse speaks to you, maybe it is God's way of speaking to you today about who you are & where you place is in the scheme of things.

1 Corinthians 15:58

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.(NLT)

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose]. (Amplified)

My dear friends, stand firm and don’t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile. (CEV)

So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. (ERV)

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (ESV)

And so brothers of mine, stand firm! Let nothing move you as you busy yourselves in the Lord’s work. Be sure that nothing you do for him is ever lost or ever wasted. (J B Phillips)

With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. (The Message)

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. (NASB)

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (NIV)

So, then, brothers and sisters, don’t let anyone move you off the foundation of your faith. Always excel in the work you do for the Lord. You know that the hard work you do for the Lord is not pointless. (NOG)

My dear brothers and sisters, stay firmly planted—be unshakable—do many good works in the name of God, and know that all your labor is not for nothing when it is for God. (The Voice)