Labor – Is this a good thing?
There have been moments in my life that have helped me to define the word “labor.”
My grandparents owned a farm. I grew up learning about milk cows, Angus cattle, and chickens. Bailing hay, gathering eggs, and picking gooseberries in the oppressive heat of Missouri summers gave me my first definition of labor!
When I went away to college, to nursing school, I learned what it meant to labor over books! I had never studied more than an hour for a test prior to college. Suddenly I was confronted with hundreds of new words to memorize and then I had to learn how to correctly apply them into a new field of study. Most importantly, I learned why medicine was considered an art, not a science.
Then came that life-changing night when I labored to bring the first two of my three children into this world! Pain had a whole new intensity but yet, there were ways to handle this pain, using it to achieve a goal. Almost eight years later, when my third child joined us, I learned that there can be definite advantages to having a plan!
Then our family labored in a physical and spiritual battle with cancer in the life of our youngest son. Labor, once again, was given a new definition, and achieving a new level of weariness.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
its builders labor uselessly.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
its security forces keep watch uselessly.
It is useless to get up early and to stay up late,
eating the food of exhausting labor—
truly he gives sleep to those he loves. – Psalm 127: 1-2 (ISV)
When you decide to buy or build a house, a car, a new shirt or even the weekly groceries, do you ask the LORD for His wisdom? Do you ask Jesus for His input on what and how much to buy? Is your mind open to all the answers? That isn’t easy. What if God wants you to wait for His timing on something? What if instead of a new house, God wants you to rent a smaller home and increase your offering to the poor? Would God ask you to labor for the benefit of someone else? And what about sharing whatever you have with others, whether it is peanut butter sandwiches and apples or steaks on the grill? One of the most wonderful seasons in my life, is when we had “whosoever would come” for dinner on Thursday nights. We did not increase our weekly grocery budget, we never knew how many would show up for dinner, but there was always enough and the fellowship around the table was characterized with laughter, wise counsel and getting to know people that maybe we would not have known in our usual acquaintance. It was fun! It was a labor of love!
At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!
“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
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 11:25-30 (NLT)
As I enter the winter of my life, I am learning about how Abba, Father God, has things to teach me about utilizing my strength and time in wise ways. He has lessons for me and I am becoming more aware of how much I don’t know and how much He has to teach me! And here is where I am beginning to understand how Jesus has lessons that are not heavy burdens but lessons of trusting the Father, leaning on the Spirit for wisdom, and understanding that the closer I live next to Jesus, the less this world will weigh me down with fear, uncertainty and confusion.
On this Labor Day, I am moving closer to Jesus. I am listening to His words. I am soaking in His presence and laboring under the light load of His presence. Being yoked with Jesus is easy when I trust Him!