Psalm 127:1-2

There is nothing worse than wasting our energy and time on something that doesn’t produce results. Oh, we can put it in the pile of stuff labeled “Ways Not to do Something” and chalk it up as experience, but time is a precious commodity—once it’s spent, it’s gone.  It can be frustrating when we don’t have much to show for it.

Proverbs gives us a clue about how to be more productive in our efforts:

“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ ‭AMPC‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/8/pro.16.3.AMPC

There is something powerful about submitting our plans to the Lord. I like this verse in the Amplified because it gives a little more clarity. We are not to simply make any old plans and ask the Lord to bless them, for they may or may not align with His will. He is not obligated to bless our plans. Rather, we should go to God and ask if our plans are agreeable to His will—or better yet, ask Him what the plans are. Then we can be confident they will be blessed.

I like how it says that God will cause our “thoughts to become agreeable to His will.” In other words, God will direct our paths.

The psalmist’s next thoughts about protection are equally valid.

I will never forget when our house alarm went off late one night when my husband and I were in bed. I leaned over and told my husband, “It’s for you.” He got up, grabbed a baseball bat, and proceeded to check the perimeter of the house outside. He was out there for quite some time, marching back and forth with his bat in hand. As he recounts it, “I was standing there with my bat in hand, and the Lord said, ‘What are you doing?’ I told him I was protecting our house. Then He said, ‘Well, there’s no sense in both of us being out here! You can protect the house, or I can.’” With that, my husband walked in the house. I still laugh at that today! God definitely has a sense of humor.

And concerning work—some of us are workaholics. I fall into this category at times, as I am very project-oriented and have to learn balance my desire to get things accomplished with the reality that my body needs rest. In fact, the more I push myself past those limits, the less productive I become. When it comes to the things we busy ourselves with and worry about, we must be able to ask ourselves if all our toil is really necessary, and to what end. We must also ask ourselves if we really truly trust God to meet our needs,  for often our striving tells a different story. In the times when I am exhausted, I find the words of Jesus coming back to me:

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.11.28-30.NLT

The yoke I impose on myself and His yoke are often two different things, and I’ve had to learn to be more aware of which of my toils are of eternal value and which are not—which of my efforts stem from an attempt to provide for myself rather than from trusting and relying on God—and what truly holds eternal value.

God gives rest to his loved ones. Do we trust Him?