The Bread of Anxious Toil

I love the poetic language of the Psalms. They illustrate, like no other book, the plight of humankind. Consider Psalm 127:2; in an age where hurry and control are two of societies preeminent illnesses, it offers an alternative while perfectly visualizing what a hurried person is really doing. "Eating the bread of anxious toil." We've all been there; have we not? We all know what that bread tastes like. We've all found ourselves hustling to make things happen; losing sleep because we are worried or because we feel that we are in control. This "anxious toil" has become the thing that sustains us. Like a starving person who must have bread, the thing we must have becomes control of our lives, and the outcomes of our effort. So we hustle, we become ambitious, we lose sleep, we feast on the bread of anxious toil.The alternative is to just sleep. "But I can't sleep," someone will say. Why not? When we know that someone else is in charge of outcomes, when we know that someone is looking out for our well-being, there is nothing to worry about, we are freed to sleep. Besides, "He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:3-4). Isn't that great! Since God doesn't sleep, we are free to have a drool-filled night of dreamy REM sleep."But the work won't get done!"That is said by the person who has decided to take upon the job themselves. God never gives us too much to do, he will never give us so much work that it will drive us batty, but we often add burdens to our shoulders that weren't even on his list. And he will let us carry them as long as we insist upon having our way. He'll let us bake the bread and eat it as long as we want. But he will continue inviting us into a better kind of life. The invitation he gives is for us to join him in the work that he is doing. Thus the proceeding verse says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain" (Psalm 127:1).If the Lord is building the house, do you think the house will be completed? I think so. Would those work conditions lead one to do lazy and slovenly work? No. Why, because there will be a constant awareness of the project manager's presence. You will understand that he is a good manager, and you will want to work hard for him. Your experience of life will go from feasting on baked anxious toil, to being able to say with the psalmist, "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8).Which kind of life do you prefer?