“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep....” Psalm 127:1-2
I’m reminded of a poem by a Scotsman, Robert Burns, in 1785 that states these words, “The best-laid schemes of mice and men Go oft awry, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!” which means: Often we make plans and schemes in our life and they fall by the wayside or run off track and they end up causing us heart-ache and pain. This gives us an insight into how important those things are that we dream up in our heads and never think them completely through.
The Psalmist here reminds us that everything we do should start with the Lord. He is our Rock and our foundation! Don’t let pride or arrogance cause you to puff yourself into a situation that will cause you pain and harm. Here we see how foolish it is to put ourselves in a “controlling” position in life. We’re better off, lead by someone or something. We don’t have the ability to reason things out in our favor most of the time. We see how easy it is to be fooled by Satan, thinking that we’re above all that. God is too powerful and too mighty to ever leave us to our own devices.
I’m often aware of how difficult it is to sleep at times. Things are on my mind from what just happened or what might happen or if this, then that! It’s almost enough to make you go crazy. Who would ever put themselves in a position that is higher than God? We don’t “feel” good or can think “straight”.
Ahhh, but the feeling of bliss when you are heading to bed and your body is cooperating in such a way that you know sleep will come almost immediately as you lay your head to rest on your pillow. What a blessing!! What a feeling! There are so many today that are on some kind of medicine to help them sleep, but it says here that God gives His beloved sleep! This is a blessing from God, sleep!
Sleep is where your body completely rests from all its labor and can be restored and refreshed! What a gift from God. You wake in the morning all ready to conquer the day!
This kind of sleep only comes to those who are completely trusting in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and God our Father! Trust – a lack of the sense of control of any kind. Faith – knowing that God has YOU in His care. Belief – that nothing can harm me when God is taking care of me 100%.
Allow God to fill your mind with His words and His thoughts today and tonight. Allow sleep to be a sweet relief from a hectic day, a day of frustrations. Trust God to meet every ONE of YOUR Needs in His timing and His grace!
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