In over 30 years of ministry, I know what it’s like to suffer from the self-perpetuated exhaustion of trying to carry something God never asked me to carry on my own. As a young pastor, I spent many Monday mornings doing internal post-mortem reviews of the services on Sunday. Who was present? Who was absent? Who wasn’t happy? Did anyone get fed? And on and on and on. Many pastors carry the weight of building an organization instead of making disciples. And it will wear you out fast.
 
Thankfully, Psalm 127 speaks directly into this weight.
 
People build. Watchmen watch. Workers get up early and stay up late. It’s what people do, and God doesn’t condemn it. It’s part of who we are. However, human labor becomes empty when we start acting like everything depends on us … and us alone.
 
It’s a temptation the church is easily sucked into all the time.
 
The weight of feeling as though we are saddled with keeping everything together, fixing everyone’s problems, being indispensable and always available, all while making sure things turn out according to expectations is crushing at times. In fact, underneath all that activity lies something we call fear: fear of “what happens if I stop carrying all of this?” It’s a real temptation, and a temptation to sin.

The Psalmist simply reminds us whose house it is that is being built. It’s God’s house, not ours, and He is the one doing the building.
 
That doesn’t mean our work is unnecessary or not valuable; it just puts our work in its proper place. We serve, we teach, encourage, organize, pray, and carry all sorts of responsibility, but we do it as people participating in God’s work rather than replacing Him in the place of being responsible for all its outcomes.
 
It’s actually pride that says, “They need me here.” It’s fear that tells us, “Everything will collapse without me.” And it’s comparison that says, “My contributions aren’t enough.” Thankfully, the gospel frees us from all of that.
 
Christ is the head of the body, and as members of His body, our calling isn’t to be every part of the body, but to faithfully inhabit the place God has given us, trusting Him to build and mature what we cannot.
 
Sometimes being faithful means working diligently; other times it means getting a good night’s sleep. Both can be acts of trust and dependence on God when we have a deep knowledge of the Builder.

What responsibility are you carrying as though all its outcome depends entirely on you? (examples: parenting, maturity of adult children, success at work, health of your church) Where might God be inviting you to exchange anxious control for faithful participation and trust? Don’t blow past these; give them plenty of time and contemplation.

Father, I know you are the Builder of Your people. Forgive me for the times I carry your work as though it were mine all by myself. Teach me to diligently serve the body, rest humbly when I need it. And trust you with what I can’t control.

“One thing I need to stop carrying as though it all depends on me is __________________.”