Promises > Circumstances
“Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
the guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives sleep to his beloved.”
I had a totally different devotional planned for today (pushing it to tomorrow). I woke up in the middle of the night with a lot of anxiety and when I was falling back asleep, I remember God putting this thought into my head and half-asleep me was like “Oh….that REALLY needs to be a graphic.”
This idea has been a theme for me in recent weeks: we are people who orient our lives around God’s promises and His faithfulness, not around our circumstances.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”
If we call Him Lord, then we make His Words the foundation of our lives. And, to quote Psalm 127, His words to us are “I am in control. I am the Builder. I am the Guard. And I am trying so hard to offer you rest...why won’t you take it?”
Something in us thinks that eating the bread of anxious toil can somehow protect us from disappointment. The more we stress and consider the worst case scenarios, the less likely they are to impact us. We choose the bread of anxious toil when God is offering us the Bread of Presence (see Exodus 25); we choose to subsist on our own limited perspective instead of inviting in the provision of knowing He is near.
Today I reject that. I reject my own impulse to predict outcomes and I reject my own insistence that I am my provider. Unless GOD builds the house and guards the property lines, my efforts are pointless. Stress TRULY has no purpose when it comes to contemplating our futures.
Prayer for Today
Jesus, I accept the provision you are trying to give me. I welcome the rest you are trying to give to me, your beloved. Be merciful as you teach me the pointlessness of my illusions of control.