Thursday, November 3
Do your best, then don’t stress
Scripture: Ezra 5-6, Psalm 127, Luke 3
Psalm 127:1–2
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
its builders labor over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city,
the watchman stays alert in vain.
2 In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food—
yes, he gives sleep to the one he loves.
Observation
In this beautiful psalm, the author reminds us that our hard work is not enough; we need the Lord’s blessing. The psalmist is not denigrating the work of building a house, watching over the city or any other hard work. Those are all good. By all means, build, watch, work hard. But don’t do it independent of God and His blessing.
My pastor, Roy, used to say, “You do the possible and trust God for the impossible.”
Noel used to tell me, “Do you best, then trust God with the results.”
As the psalmist says, “He gives sleep to the one He loves.” Do your best, then don’t stress.
Application
This is a real issue for me in so many settings. When I’m headed into a meeting, I’ve prepared and done my homework, but I need God to show up and do the impossible. When I’m speaking, I work hard preparing, but I need God to speak to people, to move their hearts, to make it effective. Unless the Lord builds and watches and works, I’ve worked in vain.
There’s a practical rhythm here: work hard, trust God. Work hard, rest in the Lord. Do your best, then don’t stress.
There are so many things beyond my control, so many things I can’t do. So do what you can, and trust the Lord with the rest.
Every now and then, I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about something and can’t go back to sleep. I need to memorize these verses and then give that concern to the Lord, and enjoy the sleep of those who trust the Lord.
Prayer: Help me today Lord to do my best and trust You with the rest!