The words of Psalm 127 bring peace. Peace to organize the first and foremost thing in your life: that you come and remain in touch with God. That your life opens up to above. Let God’s love be your secret. For what can you lose when God is on your side? You know the answer, thanks to the grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ. When he occupies the centre of your life, then you will see it, then you will truly live differently. This article explores some of God's blessings

3 pages. Translated by Bram Vegter.

God Gives It, Even While You Are Sleeping

Getting rich while you are sleeping, it is not going to happen.
In school you must study hard to obtain your diploma. Without papers it is difficult
to get a job. And when you finally have a job, it is work, and some more work
Most of the time it will not make you rich, you do not become a millionaire just like that.
In most jobs you are confronted with tremendous pressure and with overtime hours.
You are continually stressed and regularly the stress becomes too much for you.
When you have your own business, then you are truly never done: work is never ending.
Getting rich while you are sleeping? That is perhaps reserved for money tycoons who do not take the law all too seriously, or for criminals who play games with the National Taxation and Revenue Service. They will abuse their neighbours, sometimes even the dead neighbours…

In the meantime “regular” folks (such as us?) work hard. Every morning it starts early, and in the evening, it often gets too late. Sometimes you are so ready to take a vacation… But when you go away for a week then, it is too short to get the stress out of your system.

In many families, both parents have a paying job. The organization of everything, especially regarding the daily care of the children, to get that done properly and timely takes a lot of energy. You notice it in church: you cannot ask much anymore of people during the evenings, congregational meetings are sparsely attended, and many Bible study groups lead a languishing existence so that discontinuing even these is being considered. It also seems as if you can call on fewer and fewer people to volunteer in church or in society. The nomination of office bearers in many congregations is difficult, among other things due to a heavy workload and because further training on the job is required to remain current.

I think many of us recognize this description. And in all of this we feel quite powerless.

You really hear everyone sigh that daily life is so “hectic”. When you just ask someone how they are doing, you often hear “busy…” followed by a deep sigh. As if there is no more to say.

If only you could do something about this!

But it seems as if we are caught in a coercive system from which we cannot escape. Are we still able to regulate our own lives? So that we are not being lived (by others)?

Some people argue that all this is inextricably linked with the way in which current society is put together. It is all about money and no one can afford to work as the former craftsman did, labouring in peace on a beautiful piece of work, created with love and attention, and in between plenty of time for a little chat or some attention for your neighbour.

And yet, is this really true? That to labour is a must, and that society is put together in such a way that there is no other way for us? Is it really such a healthy phenomenon when we cannot talk about anything else but about how busy we are and about our work?

Do we really have nothing else to report on than that? What are we busy with then? Why are we so immensely immersed in this, that the work, whatever the cost, must continue? For what does it cost? Sometimes it costs you your health, your head, or your heart. And if God suddenly calls us, then we also stop, right?! Then things will continue, despite our absence. Or do we want to continue running, until our body brings us to a stop? But what are we doing it for then?

Perhaps someone is perturbed that I ask these questions. “A pastor can easily talk, he does not understand the hard life in the business-world”. Now, that is true. And yet, I am not asking these questions from the sideline. For starters, I know this life from home. I know what it took my own father to keep the business running. But we really must ask each other these questions.

Do you know, God himself asks us these questions. Listen for example to Psalm 127. Then we hear: “It is in vain…” what you are building. All your toil (rising early, working late nights) is in vain. Psalm 127 was written by Salomon, who also wrote Ecclesiastes. That is the Bible book with the well-known refrain: “All is vanity and striving after wind”. To toil, rise early, go to bed late, it is vain, for nothing, meaningless. You do not achieve anything by it.

But how could Salomon say this? Did he say it perhaps as a rich ruler, who led the life of a king and did not have to worry about a thing? Then you forget, that as a leader you sometimes carry great responsibilities. Responsibilities that can keep you awake while you want to sleep. To be a king was at least as stressful as working hard in a factory or running your own business.

Solomon too knew the extreme pressure of life here on earth. Business pressure or stress are not phenomena which only arose in our time. In earlier times life was less fast but no less stressful: the worries were only different. Then it was often, for example, about the most primary and elementary needs, such as: health, daily food, and drink.

No, Salomon speaks just as little as us from a position of luxury and wealth. You know, he speaks from a position of faith. That means out of his dependency on the Lord! Do we still recognize that?

In our time it has become increasingly difficult to still realize any of this. Everything goes well in our country (The Netherlands). You often hear the slogan “polder model” which supposedly stands for a policy which guarantees economic growth. There are reasonably good opportunities to find work. And wars are waged at a safe distance.

Also in church things are going well: we can usually meet our budget, church buildings are being built or renovated. All is fine, also with us.

Most of us can go on vacation, for a serious illness there is excellent medical care. And so on.

Yes, we must work hard indeed. It does not just fall into our laps. Some people almost suffocate in their work, we sigh under the work pressure, but: it goes well!
Right?

And then those confrontational words from Psalm 127: what are you doing it all for? While asleep you become rich! “God gives it to those whom he loves in their sleep!” God gives you everything, even while you are sleeping!

So, you can still become rich while sleeping? What does this mean? The question is: why does God give us so many good things? He does that because he loves us! This is the only reason!

And this is something that we often forget. We do not live because we work, we live because God looks after us. It often looks quite different in our lives: we work as if our lives depend on it.

But when you have God’s love, what is there still to lose then?

Easy talk? Cheap words? I have become more and more convinced, that we are dealing here with a principled choice. Our life is not fate, our work is not a forced system. It starts with a choice: that you do not let yourself be pushed around by the compulsion of modern society. This so-called compulsion is within you.

What we need now, is a decision. The decision to acknowledge that it is a choice and not fate.

That you are not powerless, but that you yourself can decide. That you are not a victim who are being lived, but that you are a person who wants to be dependent on God.

The words of Psalm 127 bring peace. Peace to organize the first and foremost thing in your life: that you come and remain in touch with God. That your life opens up to above. Let God’s love be your secret. For what can you lose when God is on your side? You know the answer, thanks to the grace and Spirit of Jesus Christ. When he occupies the centre of your life, then you will see it, then you will truly live differently. You press down on the gas pedal less firmly. Then you live from God’s blessings. For which Jesus suffered and died.

Indeed, I offer no solutions here. They are there though.

Sit around a table with a few people sometime, and discuss this together, how you are dealing with work and stress, with your other responsibilities in your family and in your church.

But it is not first of all about solutions, it is first of all about a different attitude. And that is not the easiest thing to do. It means making choices, each time again.

It also means to battle. And yet not a stressful battle. It is a battle with your Liberator on your side. Then you are not a loser, but you stand strong.

Then you search for his nearness in prayer. With him you may sigh about it: Father, here is my life. May I place my cares in Your hand.

I bet that you will sleep well. And while you are sleeping, God looks after you!

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