By: Lorraine Eastman, Legacy Pastor
When our kids were young, I remember our son seemed to learn lessons best when they were mastered the hard way, when those lessons had to be fought for and there was pain involved. You know the kind—they involved a battle, usually a battle of the wills. They were always exhausting. He would eventually get whatever “it” was, somehow miraculously sinking in one day. It always required a lot of work, pain, and effort—not only for him, but for us as well.
I never imagined that I would need to learn that way. But I am a little hardheaded. I tend to be a workaholic, and evidently God had been trying to get me to slow down for quite a while. I just wasn’t listening. So in late October, God decided He’d had enough and needed to get my attention by putting me in the hospital for two weeks. He forced me to slow down—I didn’t have a choice!
In that time, I learned that it was okay to let go and allow others to help. I’m much better now. I’m listening to my body more—and listening to the Holy Spirit more.
What about you? Do you struggle with working too much, to the point where it interferes with your family, your health, rest, or even time with God? Do you wrestle with perfectionism, telling yourself that you are the only one who can get things done the right way?
Our world not only condones this way of thinking; it encourages it. We hear words like hardworking, diligent, tireless, strong, workhorse, and we’re fed a false narrative that we can have everything if we just work hard enough and long enough. We can hold on to that philosophy for a while, but eventually most of us will hit a wall. And if we’re not careful, that slip can threaten us not only physically, but spiritually as well.
I’m struck by a Psalm full of wisdom, which isn’t surprising since it was written by Solomon. I want to focus on the first two verses of Psalm 127 and break them down.
Solomon begins with Psalm 127:1a (NLT): “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.”
This verse is countercultural. The world tells us that we are the center of everything we do. Solomon, in his wisdom, points everything back to God. He shows us that God is the key ingredient. We need to flip the switch from what the world tells us to what the Bible tells us. We are not the key ingredient; God is. To make this work, try inviting God into whatever you are working on today, because without Him, nothing is worth building.
The verse continues in Psalm 127:1b (NLT): “Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.”
Solomon repeats the same truth: Whether building or guarding, if God isn’t at the center of our lives, it’s a waste. This is a Hebrew teaching technique called synonymous parallelism, where an idea is stated twice just slightly differently. This reminds me of Jesus’ words in John 15:5 (NLT): “I am the vine; you are the branches . . . apart from me you can do nothing.” Again, the key ingredient is God and our connection to him.
Then Solomon says in Psalm 127:2a (NLT): “It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat.”
This verse hits home. The world tells us to work harder and harder because we are the key to success. That thinking inflates our egos and makes everything about us, but it simply isn’t true. Yes, we need to work, but we need to work smart with God as the key ingredient. We need to start inviting him into our work instead of making it all about us.
The last part of the verse ends with Psalm 127:2b (NLT): “For God gives rest to his loved ones.”
Do you want true rest—spiritual, emotional, physical? It’s available, but it comes by inviting Jesus in. Rest doesn’t come from scrolling on your phone or binge-watching Hulu or Netflix. Real rest comes when we sit quietly with Jesus, the simplicity of Him and us.
The key ingredient in our work and in our rest is simply Jesus. We know Jesus is there; he is present with us all the time. But I want to challenge you to invite him into your presence. To actually say, “Jesus, I invite you into what I am doing today.” Something amazing is going to happen when we verbally invite Jesus to be a part of what we are going to build today.
Let’s try it: Jesus, we invite you in to build this house emotionally, physically, spiritually today. Now let’s go! Just imagine what we can do together!