Godward Toil

What will I be found doing when He comes?: Productivity reflections on 1 Thesssalonians

2 Thes 1:5-10 refers to the judgment and joy that Christ will bring when "the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels."   Paul draws a stark and frightening contrast between the suffering that "those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" will experience, and the glory and marveling that his saints will enjoy.   As I read this passage, I asked myself, "What will I be found doing when He comes?"   

This question can be (and has been for me at various times) a deterrent from obvious moral transgression.  It is a frightful thing to imagine being found rejecting God and willfully engaging in sin.  But it seems just as important to consider the more subtle aspects and implications of this question.   "What will I be found thinking about, focused on, working on, resting from?"    Productivity is so much about what has your attention.    It doesn't mean we need to be "doing" all of the time--the most productive thing at any given moment might be rest or meditation.  It will be a marvelous thing to be found sitting quietly--or even taking a break in a day of hard work and diligence.   But I do not want to be found wasting time with things that either numb me to God's designs or focus me on myself.  Almost anything can be a candidate:  shopping, overeating, web surfing, worrying, social networking.  I also do not want to be found wasting time for lack of planning, like spending 2 hours looking for a lost document in a pile of un-filed papers, or bouncing from task to task without completing any because I don't know what to do next.

Only God knows when he will come (e.g. 1 Thes 5:2).   And when He does, those who are truly his sheep will forget everything we were doing or not doing when we hear His voice.  In the meantime, faith is staying with Him, peacefully and diligently walking in the good works he has prepared beforehand for us to.

Paul prays for Thessalonians' resolutions, for the glory of God

I took encouragement this morning from Paul's words for the Thessalonians in 1 Thes 1:11-12.  He told them that he was praying that God would, "fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."   

• This passage encouraged me with the following truths:It is good and right for Christians to "resolve for good."  (He wouldn't be praying for God to fulfill their resolutions if it weren't good to be making them to begin with!)
• My resolutions and works of faith are fulfilled by God's power (not my own).
• The end (the "so that") of my resolutions and work is for the name of Jesus to be glorified and for me to caught up in that glory with him ("glorified in you, and you in him").

So, take heart, and be bold in what you resolve for Christ today!

Who is "getting things done"?

In my post yesterday about Psalm 127, I offered a few reflections on the relationship between Psalm 127: 1-2 and productivity.  Today I want to add a related point about the strange and wonderful revelation in these verses of God's sovereignty and our co-workmanship.

Similar to the verses I posted about after hearing a Piper sermon, and so many others (like Phil 2:12-13), verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 127 has that strange and wonderful property where the subject or actor of the sentence fluidly shifts between God and man: "Unless the Lord builds...those who build..."   Who is doing the building here?  The Lord or those who build?  The answer, inexplicably, marvelously is YES!

How could the Maker and Sustainer of the universe being doing the puny little things I'm doing?  Building houses, writing emails, teaching classes..he's doing all of it!  What power...and what an unbelievable foundation to stand upon upon as I go about trying to manage what seems like an impossible number of tasks.  Keep me on that Rock, oh God!

Productivity reflections on Psalm 127

Yesterday, I posted about my resolution to taste God's word and pray each day before launching into other work.  Today, I want to add a reflection on portions of Psalm 127  to draw the connection between this resolution and productivity.

A dear friend and mentor once pierced my heart with Psalm 127, when I told him I was getting busy with my day and leaving aside my regular routine of devotions.   He quoted me the first verse of this passage:

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.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

This passage has become something of a guiding light for me in how I think about productivity from, for, and with God.  Here are some ways that this passage has worked on me:

• Without the Lord either:
  • my plans will fail (whatever I'm trying to do will not happen or will fall apart).
  • my plans succeed, but whatever I manage to achieve will not be of any true value.
• I deeply relate to "eating the bread of anxious toil."  I hate it and don't want it.
• It is a lie that I will have rest from writing that email that tempted me yesterday morning.  The Lord gives me sleep, not getting things off my plate.
• My Bible has a note that says the last line is sometimes translated "gives to his beloved in their sleep."   If so, then true productivity does not ultimately depend on my hard work. The Lord is Getting Things Done, giving power, productivity, and purpose to my work, even as sleep. 
  

Looked at from this perspective, it is not only bad for my soul to skip or delay my morning feeding of God's Word, it's highly unproductive!