Don’t Labor in Vain

“Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.”
– Psalm 127:1

Most people work very hard in life. You probably do too. However, we’re very small people operating in a very large world. If we aren’t working in the Lord, then we’re doing nothing more than building elaborate sand castles that will soon be washed away by the tide.

If we’re building our house, career, business, platform, church, or nation with our strength, energy, abilities, ideas, and resources, we build in vain. All that we do will one day pass away (or else we will and we certainly can’t take it with us). Wisdom teaches us to build in the Lord. Seek to understand His will and His ways – not just His commands, but His heart, values, and priorities. Build on these! Don’t simply ask God to bless what you’ve already decided to do. Do what God’s already decided to bless. Do everything you do in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than your own power. Build everything on a foundation of prayer and devotion to God’s Kingdom.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson we all should have learned from these past two years is that everything which feels so substantial is far more fragile than we ever imagine. Pandemic…political upheaval…war…. These things have upended institutions and patterns we never dreamed could be disrupted. We can’t build on earthly foundations and institutions! We must build with the Lord and build on a foundation of faith and submission to God. Don’t labor in vain. Don’t stay awake fretting anxiously over every threat in vain. Work and watch with God, not by yourself!