| I learned this new "phrase" from my quiet time today and I gotta tell you, this totally hit home and pierced my heart today exactly where I needed it to. The majority of scripture that was used in my study today was Psalm 127: 1& 2 "If the Lord doesn't build the house, the builders are working for nothing. If the Lord doesn't guard the city, the guards are watching for nothing. It is no use for you to get up early and stay up late, working for a living. The Lord gives sleep to those he loves." We can bascially summarize these passages by simply saying that if God's not in the work or effort - whatever the work or efforts may be - the labor is in vain and is useless and meaningless. I started thinking through some of the things in my life, both past and present, that I have worked so hard at accomplishing or bringing in to fruition in my own strength, without Him. It's not a good feeling at all to think that this work has been for nothing. What in the world made/makes me think that I don't need Him? This excerpt was also included in my study today from Benjamin Franklin's "Speech to the Convention for Forming a Constitution for the Unitied States": "In the beginning of the contest with Britain when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered....And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived for a long time (81 years), and the longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "Except the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall proceed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel." |
I was asked in my study about when the last time was that I realized I was wasting my energies, the last time I experienced "Nisi Dominus Frustra"? I won't go into my personal answers, but I will say that looking more closely at these situations, I have most certainly experienced frustration, and today He has brought to light the root of those frustrations...because I've tried to build so many things without Him, without His guidance and strength, without His blessing. What areas in your life are you working in vain? Maybe it is your workplace, maybe it's within your home, in your relationships or lack thereof.
I think that God is also telling us from verse 2 that we need rest! Work done while we should be resting is work done and energy burned in vain. God knows that our bodies need sleep and when we deprive ourselves of that rest, it can be dangerous: physically, emotionally and spiritually. So, like I read today, "work where God words; then rest."
I love that God wants to build an amazing life for me. I love that His blueprint is so much higher and grander than my own. My prayer is that I would follow His work in my life and be thankful that He allows me to help Him build but that He doesn't need me to be the master carpenter.
Thank you, Jesus, for frustrating the works in my life that I try doing without You, so that I may be drawn to You.
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