Changing Our Focus as the Lord Works

by Hilary Bernstein

Rest and relief aren’t always associated with our homes or our hearts, are they? We get so caught up thinking about unfinished to-do lists and concentrate on routines we think we need for our particular seasons of life. Then we try to rush and rearrange, deceived by the fantasy that if we can just figure out a way to balance everything, our homes and lives will look and feel perfect.

This world may dupe us into thinking that finding balance is the key to life. But balance means we need to evenly distribute elements to achieve equilibrium. Any adult knows this is virtually impossible! If you consider the demands of your family, job, other relationships, then add your home to the equation, everything falls blatantly off­-balance. Any kind of equilibrium feels impossible.

When I think about the responsibilities and tasks required for my job, I’m faced with a seemingly never-ending to-do list. I can work as hard as possible every day, but I’ll never get completely caught up. The same goes with my responsibilities and chores at home. Just when I think my house is clean and I’m caught up with laundry and dishes, someone makes a meal or changes their clothing, and my work cycle begins all over again. Adding my husband and children to the picture only drives home the fact that I’m never finished pouring into them and investing in our relationships.

If I focus on these continual demands, pressure begins to build and I start to tense up, feeling the strain of not being able to complete everything. But isn’t this self-­inflicted stress just a reminder of who I’m trusting in?

When we only consider what we can personally do, we focus on ourselves and our own strength and capability. We remove God from the equation and zero in on our own shortcomings. We don’t have enough time or energy or patience or ability to do everything. Yet what does Psalm 127:1 reveal? “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” All that anxious toil of ours is completely in vain.

Instead of focusing on what we know we can’t do, we need to prayerfully take those feelings to the Lord. We may not be able to do the work, but God can do what He needs to do.

Unless He builds our marriages, our humble, flawed efforts can only go so far. Unless He builds our parenting, we will fail. Unless He’s the one who builds our careers or ministries, the work we attempt is in vain. And unless He builds our homes and multiplies our time, energy, and ideas so we can care for them day by day, we’ll drown in overwhelm all the time.

We still have work to do, but it’s His work to do. Instead of focusing on working out our solutions, we get to work out the Lord’s solutions and watch how He works everything together for His good and perfect purposes.

Hilary Bernstein is the author of The Tension of Tidy and more than a dozen devotional books. A blogger and former newspaper editor, she leads more than a thousand women closer to Christ and each other as women’s ministry director at The Chapel in Green, Ohio. A planner, foodie, and frequent hostess, Hilary loves to both travel and spend time at home with her husband, son, and daughter. For more of Hilary’s grace­filled, practical homemaking and home management tips and resources, visit www.hilarybernstein.com.