Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Psalm 127:1-2
These Bible verses have been coming up a lot lately in devotions, my Bible readings and people quoting them in meetings. When this happens, I know to pay attention because the Lord is speaking loudly or as my friend said, “That is shouting.” So, I have been asking God what He wants to teach me through these Bible verses and I believe that you too will benefit from what I am learning, although the lesson is ongoing.
Sometimes we may try to work in our own strength and may even be a little manipulative to try to get our desired outcome. But God wants us to be guided by Him in all that we do no matter how mundane or trivial we may think the situation is. Sometimes we give in to anxiety and we take up burdens that we don’t need to in order to fulfill what we think God wants to do in our lives, which often leads to burnout, but God never wants this for us.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
God is a Master Builder with a blueprint for our lives that is unmatched. Wisdom would dictate that we let Him oversee the construction of whatever we are building in our lives and to rest in Him. He will give us the understanding to know that whatever is being built should be built firmly on the Rock, who is Jesus.
By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3-4
Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. Luke 6:47-48
Too often we are so busy building without the proper plan from the Great Architect. We wake up early and go to bed late, but we do so in vain when the Lord is not in it. Last month, I was in Brazil and I was very busy for a lot of that trip. I was getting up early and going to bed late. I felt like I couldn’t hear God as I tiredly read His word and prayed. I didn’t feel like I was praying as I used to and I was not connecting with the Lord in the way I would like. One day a friend came to mind, and I just hoped that she was doing well, instead of stopping to pray. Earlier this week she reached out to me asking for prayer. I asked her to forgive me as she came to my mind in Brazil, but I was too busy to pray. Those prayers may have helped her then. Interestingly, we were speaking about the need to stop and pray for people when they come to mind in Bible study on Sunday. Often when we are too busy, we miss what God wants us to do. Relationships suffer because of busyness, and this is not what Jesus would want. Jesus took time to be with people. We went out of His way to have a divine encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and He was often reclining at dinner eating with friends.
A woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. Matthew 26:7
Jesus prioritized relationships and so should we. We should take time to build strong bonds in which we can share openly and be vulnerable with one another. However, these days in our hurriedness, we seem to have time for only superficial relationships that lack depth and power.
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Ecclesiastes 4:12
God takes His time to weave strong ties as He builds relationships, so we need to be able to stand still and know that He is the God who is working to bond people together to chase tens of thousands. If we are too busy, we may miss God’s construction plan, which is for His glory. Don’t worry and give in to anxiety because even while we sleep, God never slumbers or sleeps, and He is building so we never have to labor in vain.
Comments