“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Psalm 127:1
Unless the Lord
I stumbled across this Scripture recently and it kind of rocked my world. Of late, my heart and mind had been focused on a plethora of goals and dreams. I was going to be bold, get a lot of stuff done, accomplish more, and change the world for Jesus. In my mind, I was going to slay the year in a whirlwind of movement and purpose. This Scripture, this one verse, shook all of those aspirations at their core and transformed all of my paradigms about “doing things for God.”
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it.
Unless the Lord God is at the very center of my dreams, the very motive for them, and unless it is His strength literally accomplishing them, my labor and striving after them is wasted. It is a tragically simple task to slip into doing a “good thing” that is not the Lord’s thing.
Unless the Lord guards the city
The watchman stays awake in vain.
This one sentence shattered, and continues to shatter my illusions of control. My city can be my health, my possessions, or even my relationships. The Lord decides what stays, what goes, and when. There is nothing I can do, no precaution that I can take, to keep my city safe.
The passage continues on to say in verse 2:
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
The bread of sorrows is a mind made chaotic by worry and stress. Striving to reach lofty goals and to protect those things that I wish to hold near will steal valuable nights of sleep and restful mornings. He longs to give His children rest and peace. He longs for us to release our ever-present fears and worries to His care. The Father is the best builder and the best watchman I know.
Father, we submit our aspirations and goals to You and Your will. Would we chase You, rather than chase dreams. Would we rest in the knowledge that the God of the Universe is our guardian and strength. We thank You for releasing us from worry and fear. You are our sufficiency. Amen.