Psalm 127:1

This Psalm has been of encouraging interest to me this week as I consider what my work is apart from the Lord: vain. Even when we try to do good things, if they are apart from God we are laboring for a cause that itself has no fulfillment in eternity. Even something as honorable as laboring for family or charity is ultimately in vain, for God must be first and foremost in our hearts and pursuits as Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” Any labor or prospering that we experience as we pursue the Lord must be in His strength, according to His perfect will and for His glory.

This week Bobby and I have been looking at some possibilities of a new home, but after hours of searching via the web and rental office visits and dozens of phone calls later we have yet to find the place that is affordable and yet not in the center of a seedy neighborhood. I was a bit discouraged looking at both sides of our stand-still: too small of an apartment or too large of a rent. When we came home I remember this verse from a cross stitch on our dining room wall. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain…” Bobby and I quickly regained focus recognizing that God is the Provider. If we are not able to find more room, then our current home will work out somehow. The important thing for me to remember was that everything we do must begin and end with Him. He is the one who protects, provides, blesses and builds a home.