Unless the Lord Builds: Rest From Anxious Toil

Because the lay the builder that labors in vain is not a bad builder. He may have all the skills, all the tools, all the disciplines necessary, but he's building in vain because he's building as if outcome depends on him. The watchman who watches in vain, he's maybe not a bad watchman. He might be alert or most the most dedicated watchman that the city has ever seen, But he's watching in vain because he's watching as if though the last line of defense all depended on him, as if the city's entire safety depended on him. And see, that was me. For three years, I wasn't a bad church planner. I mean, I was building the church. I was preaching. I was building teams and and leaders and, you know, had some strategy and there were some resources, but I was building alone. [00:20:26] (68 seconds)  #StopBuildingAlone

And then God and his kindness. This is how we know how good God is. He let me get to a low point, a low point, and he got me to a place where I could finally hear what he was saying. I could finally hear it. He was saying, brother Mike, this isn't your church. It's my church. He was saying, Mike, I'm the one who bled and died for these people, not you. He said, Mike, this church is so that I can be known, not you. And let me tell you guys, that was those are some of the most freeing words that I heard. Some of those freeing words because the outcome didn't depend on me. [00:21:34] (49 seconds)  #HisChurchNotMine

And if this person fell asleep, well, the whole city was in jeopardy. The whole city was in danger. Food and provisions, families, whole households, women and children, it all became under in in jeopardy if the watchman fell asleep. The watchman is the one who stays awake. The watchman is the one who keeps everyone safe so that they can sleep. And maybe you're familiar with this watchman role. Maybe you're familiar with this in your life, that is you're the one who's kinda staying awake, staying alert, staying vigilant, and you're the one who's holding it all together. You can't fully relax because if you do, then everything might fall apart. [00:18:34] (46 seconds)  #WatchmanBurden

And so that freed me up so that I can I can work, I can watch, I can build? But I can build in such a way where it's not up to me. The outcome isn't up to me. It's up to the Lord. It was so freeing that the weight that I had been carrying wasn't mine to carry in the first place. It was so freeing. And that's exactly where Solomon takes us in in verse two, where he says, in vain, you get up early and you stay up late working hard to have enough food. Yes, he gives sleep to the person he loves. [00:22:22] (40 seconds)  #WorkButNotAlone

So some of you in here are are exhausted this morning. You're tired. Not just physically, you're soul exhausted. It's the kind of tired that man's been maybe building up over the last few months or maybe even years. It's the kind of tiredness that comes from carrying a weight that you've never that was never meant for you to carry. And so this morning, right in right in this place, I wanna invite you to loosen your grip, to open your hands. Yes. You're still building. You're still watching. You're still working. You're still pouring yourself into your career, your marriage, your kids, your church, your community. But you're doing so with a posture of open hands. [00:42:56] (50 seconds)  #LoosenYourGrip

You know, it's bad when your wife turns to you one day and she goes, are you depressed? Oh, honey, I think I am. But I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only one in this room who has felt like this. I'm I'm willing to bet that there are more of us in here who have worked hard at something, whether that's a a relationship, a career, a certain goal, your reputation, and you realize that somewhere along the way that the driving engine behind all that effort was you. Your name, your security, your sense that if you just worked hard enough, you could build something that would finally make you feel like you are okay. [00:10:52] (51 seconds)  #StopSeekingValidation

And see, here's the point, is that God wasn't telling me to never pray for anything ever again. That's not that's not the point. But in this instance, what God was teaching me was that he was teaching me to rest. He's teaching me to rest in the one who provides. The one who is more reliable, the one who is striving from morning till night. So here's the big idea of these first two verses is that God doesn't call us to stop building. He calls us to stop building alone. The work remains, the effort is real, the watch watch when it matters, but the posture underneath the work, that's what changes everything. That's what changes it all. [00:27:06] (56 seconds)  #PostureOfRest

So how do we get the Lord in it? Is it a principle? Is it a practice? Now those things are certainly good, but this psalm is actually showing us a posture. Showing us a posture. To get the Lord in our work means a posture, a posture of rest. It's a part posture of open hands. It's a posture of open hands and not white knuckle grip. This means that you can build your career, but with open hands. It means you can raise your children, but with open hands. You can plan for the future, but with open hands. We can do all these things with an open hand arrest that because we know that in Jesus, you're secure, your quiver is full, your standing at the gate is sure that you matter. [00:41:57] (59 seconds)  #InviteGodIntoWork