Daily Devotional for June 26, 2014

Psalm 127:1-2
If God doesn’t build the house,
    the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn’t guard the city,
    the night watchman might as well nap.
It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,
    and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don’t you know he enjoys
    giving rest to those he loves?

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

I have started reading a Bible study guide written by Jen Hatmaker, called Make Over. This girl speaks my language!  In the first few days’ lessons, she talks about all of the “busyness” that fills our days…and she calls us to question why we do what we do…in the way that we do it.  She likens many of us to “dancing monkeys” who try to be all things to all people…”performers” of sorts who rise early and go to bed late – and work our fingers to the bone in between.  She asks the question, “Monkey, who are you dancing for?”*

This is a reasonable question.  And in light of today’s scripture passage from Psalm 127, I would like to add, “Who is your ‘supervisor’ on the job?”  If we are busy trying to do all of the things that we think will make us – and others – happy…and we fail to recognize God’s desires and/or His joy in helping us accomplish all that is necessary and important…we are going to end up bone tired, discouraged, defeated – and maybe even a little disgusted!

Hatmaker asks…”What if our value exists because God takes pleasure in us?”  More to the point of this scripture lesson, “What if we focused on pleasing God and asked Him to help us prioritize our days?”  So often, we are too busy trying to keep up with others – or what we perceive to be their expectations of us.  We put all kinds of demands on ourselves that are not of God’s making. So we build “shacks” rather than God-ordained “houses”…and we just as well have taken a nap instead.

Jen Hatmaker concludes that “God never asked for dancing monkeys.”  He also never told us we had to do this all on our own!  Isn’t it time to bring Him in on the design for your life…your daily “calendar”…the creation of your life’s “blueprint”?  Wouldn’t a little help with all of the burdens and challenges one faces in any given day be refreshing and restorative?  Are you ready to truly rest in the LORD and let Him shoulder the heavy stuff?  Isn’t this the perfect day to begin?

©2014 Debbie Robus

*http://jenhatmaker.com/books.htm