You can rise early with worry and go to bed exhausted.
You can carry the weight of the work you do, the life you live and carry it squarely on your own shoulders.
The more you do, the more that must be done. The more you succeed, the more you must succeed. The best you did last week pales in comparison with the best you must do this week to keep your head above the water of whatever sea you are sinking in.
“Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.”
Psalms 127:1-2 NLT
“Unless the Lord builds the house….”
Unless the Lord builds the marriage, the ministry, the job, the life….
How does God do this?
A better question is “How can I stop building my own kingdom and allow God to build His through me?”
For me, the answer involves surrender, obedience, getting out of the way and asking God to show me a new way to build. A new way to live. A new way to love. A new way to lead. Not the world’s way, not the ways I know from experience but His.
I ask Jesus every day to show me the way He builds lives, the way He loves and the way He leads.
“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
May you get out of your own way today.
May you surrender your “this is the way I’ve always done it” for “Jesus show me a new way”.
May you obey and put into practice whatever God shows you.
May today be the day that you love a little bit more like Jesus, lead a little bit more like Jesus and rest a lot more in His grace as you do it.
