Psalms 127:1 says that “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:…” Here at Berean Calvary Church, it has been a struggle recently with many things, and I was getting ready for Sunday night service, the Lord laid this verse on my heart. “Except the Lord build the house…” You can apply that to anything in the church: the sermon recordings, the heat, the chairs, the people, the paperwork, the website, the ministries altogether, etc. How frustrating it can be to try and do things on our own strength. The Lord tells us that “whatsoever (our) hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” We are to try hard, and devote ourselves to the task, but the last few weeks have taught me that there is no substitute for prayer. Bathe every activity in the church with prayer. Prayer when you get out of bed, pray when you walk to the kitchen and bathroom. At the church, pray when you walk in, pray before you touch the sound system and the recorder, pray before the people come in, pray over the hymnals, pray over the Bible’s, pray over the pulpit, and pray before, during, and at the close of the service. Why, you ask? Because EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOUSE, they LABOUR in VAIN that build it.
My wife was alluding to how sometimes things in the ministry have felt like a genuine waste of time. And, indeed, perhaps, somethings were. Namely- those things where we didn’t bathe the issue in prayer, and we thought that we could go about it on our own strength. Unless the Lord is the one active in building the church, and growing it and adding to it, we would have nothing. We would be working… for NOTHING. It would be in vain, and this would explain why sometimes, it feels like our service to the Lord is in vain. Why must prayer be the last resort that it is? Why can’t we live like we are relying completely on Jesus Christ for everything? After all, isn’t that TRULY the case?
The Bible says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) Why aren’t we realizing that Jesus is the absolute reason we must give thanks, because he is the one pulling the strings, he is the one that makes things work for us. He may regard as a good thing a man that works hard for him, that is true. But how come we don’t more or less realize that “all things work together FOR GOOD to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose?” (Romans 8:28) Maybe the reason things aren’t working right is because we aren’t leaning on God for it, and we aren’t giving him the credit.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6.
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