FreedomНамуна

Unless the Lord builds the house...

I was recently asked to share my story – in long form – at a small-group gathering for a friend’s church. It’s been some time since I last did this. It was a great chance to reflect on the different seasons of my life and how they’ve shaped me into who I am today.

One important moment for me was in my early twenties, when I had a significant burnout experience. I was working in a creative job and pushed myself extremely hard. I saw people around me having more success than I did, and set their greatest victories as my minimum standard. At the end of my testimony, there was a time for questions. One of the blokes around the table asked me what it was that caused me to burn out. While there are a few different factors that played into it, my response was simple: ‘crushing self-expectation’.

Since recovering from burnout, the opening words of Psalm 127 have been precious to me. I always used to read them in the negative: ‘Don’t build or labour without God’. This is true, but I think there’s another way to read it. Psalm 127 sets us free from the crushing self-expectation of needing to make our own success. It’s an invitation into the freedom of God’s plans and purposes for our lives, which are always better than our own. If you’re struggling under the weight of crushing self-expectation today, I pray God would release you into that freedom.

Written by CHRIS GRESHAM-BRITT