Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. [Psalm 127.1]
These words really hit home today... My wife and I are in the process of building a cabin. Sure, it is not a "house" per se, but it is a building and we have engaged in the construction of it.
As I have recently been really trying to repent of a 'hard heart' (an unbelieving heart that considers my own efforts and thoughts before those of God), this scripture today presents no small task of relying on God for the construction of this cabin.
It occurred to me today that faith takes work. Believing God is not without effort. To shut down what our physical eyes see and ears hear, along with what the rest of our physical senses perceive takes work and practice.
Faith is not natural. To be accurate, faith is supernatural. But the preventative to living and walking by faith is a hard, unbelieving heart. Hard heartedness is the very thing that caused Israel so much trouble in the wilderness. Hard heartedness is the opposite of faith and trust in God (the "in God" part of this sentence is key because we are fully capable of trusting in what our physical senses tell us - but to do so is to make us the object of our faith and not God - in other words, we commit idolatry).
Father, I want to take every opportunity to avoid hard heartedness on purpose. As I become fully engaged in building this cabin, may I constantly be reminded of Psalm 127.1!
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