Good morning.
My name is Eric. I'm one of the guys here on staff at Watermark.
It's great to be here with you today.
I have never met someone in my entire life who is most content
when they don't know where their next meal is going to come from.
Random, maybe, but true.
As humanity, we have this craving for stability and security.
It comes in different quantities.
Some people want to know every part of their life, how structured it will be.
But even the most bohemian, hippie person you've ever met in your life
wants some level of security.
They want to know at least where their next meal is coming from.
It's a common condition that goes back to the earliest days of humanity.
If you look back in the book of Genesis in the Bible,
you have Adam and Eve, the first man and woman,
and then their sons, Cain and Abel.
Cain kills his brother, and God says,
Okay, Cain, as a punishment for your sin,
you're going to be a restless wanderer and a fugitive on the earth.
And the first thing Cain does after God tells this to him
is he goes out, he has a kid, and he builds a city.
Because family and city mean security and stability.
It's built into our nature as human beings.
You fast forward a couple chapters later,
you're at the city of Babel.
And the people come together and they say,
We need to build a tower into the heavens,
to reach to the heavens,
so that we will not be scattered across the earth.
We want stability.
We want security.
We want to make sure our friends don't leave.
We like them around.
So we need to do what we can to keep them here.
And this craving for security and stability comes down to today.
I messaged a number of people from the church this week
and asked them,
If you think about you and the people you know,
what are the greatest causes of stress in your lives or their lives?
What are the things that keep you awake at night?
And if you listen to their responses,
it shows that we still struggle with these issues today.
One person said,
We lose sleep because we don't feel we're in control of the situation before us.
And we always think the worst will happen,
and any immediate misstep will lead to dire outcomes.
A lot of people said things like,
Providing for your family.
The future, your next job,
contract renewal at your current job,
lack of job security in general,
the thought of losing someone or something that I love,
finding that special someone,
or if you've already found them,
are you on the same page with them?
You listen to this list,
and it comes down to security and stability.
One person said,
You know, the definition of stress
is sitting in a room,
listening to a talk,
knowing that you can't leave,
but there are four Pokemon right outside the door.
Another person said,
You know, everyone at work must have sleepless nights too,
but a big part is just not to show it.
Even when we know
that the world is going crazy
and we can't sleep at night,
we want to put on this show
that we are stable and secure
for everyone else to see
because we crave stability and security.
And it's not just a watermark issue either.
It's going on worldwide.
How do you explain world events like Brexit,
the election of Duterte in the Philippines,
and the rise of Trump in America?
People want stability and security.
They know that the current political system,
or they think the current political system
will not give them the stability and security they want,
and so they feel this need to take drastic measures to get it.
It's a common human condition.
Everyone wants stability and security,
and when we feel like we don't have it,
our natural human response is stress.
And today we're going to continue in our series
looking at the Psalms
and worship for all seasons
and talk about a psalm for when we are stressed.
And what we're going to see
is that God gives his people
all the things we are tempted to stress over
and become anxious about.
We're going to have three steps
that are going to help us see this.
First, our effort.
Second, our sleep.
And third, our hope.
First, our effort.
Psalm 127, verse 1,
says,
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Now if you look throughout the Bible,
it's very clear that God expects us to be working.
You go back to the Garden of Eve,
and what does God tell Adam and Eve?
He says,
Rule the earth.
Have dominion.
Do work.
If you look at the Ten Commandments,
God comes and he says,
You need a day of rest
because all the other days you're going to be working.
He expects us to do work.
He expects us to go to our jobs,
to do our school.
In the church,
he expects us to be making disciples.
But this verse is clear
that unless God is behind our work,
it is in vain.
If you look at the title of this psalm,
it says that it's written by Solomon.
And it says,
Unless the Lord builds the house.
Solomon built a very famous house.
It's called the temple.
It was the place,
the dwelling place of God on earth.
Solomon did lots of work
to take this temple,
make it a beautiful, beautiful building.
They put a lot of time into it,
a lot of money into it.
And that's quite possibly
what he is referring to in this verse.
But what he is saying is,
we built this elaborate,
beautiful, intricate,
expensive building.
We put in our time
and our effort
and our energy,
but if God's not in it,
it's wasted.
It's useless.
This word labor in this verse
isn't just the word
that we would typically think of
when we think of work.
It can actually be translated
more along the lines of toil,
trouble,
work that leaves us
just feeling empty
and exhausted
at the end of the day.
And he's saying that
if we don't have God in our work,
all of our work
is going to be
that kind of work,
the kind of work
that leaves us empty,
the kind of work
that leaves us stressed.
Unless the Lord
builds the house,
those who build it
labor in vain.
What does it mean
for a house
to be built in vain?
There's a pastor
in the States
named John Piper
and he lists four ways
that a house
can be built in vain.
He says,
first off,
you can build the house
and you just never
complete the construction.
Sort of like
the Tower of Babel
in the Bible.
You start building,
you never actually
complete the house.
It's built in vain.
It can't be used
like it's meant to be.
Second off,
you build the house,
you get it,
it's beautiful.
You move in,
you live there
for a couple years
and then all of a sudden
the house collapses.
Sort of like
the foolish man
that Jesus talked about
who built his house
on the sand.
The storms came,
they knocked out the house.
If you build your house
and two years later
it collapses,
the house has been built
in vain.
The third way
that the house
can be built in vain
is that you build the house,
it's beautiful,
you oversee it,
the construction finishes
and the day that you're
meant to move in,
you dropped out
of a heart attack
and you never get to enjoy
the fruit of your labor.
The writer of Ecclesiastes
in the Bible
talks about this,
the man who
does all this work
and prepares everything
just for someone else
to enjoy it.
And then finally,
the fourth way
that the house
can be built in vain
and I think this one
is one that is all too
common in our culture.
You build the house,
it's beautiful,
you get everything ready,
you move in
and the house,
once you move into it,
becomes a house
of pain and mourning
filled with broken marriages,
rebellious children,
marble shelves
that hold meaningless trinkets.
and why?
Why?
Why is this type
of building vanity?
Because when we build
a house
or really do any
venture in life,
start a business,
start a church,
start a family,
and we do it
without God in it,
everything involved
in the process
starts and ends
with us.
we toil,
we labor,
we work with power
that comes from us.
We complete a project
and the glory goes to us.
We celebrate
what we have accomplished.
We get consumed
with ourselves
and that's that.
And if we can't enjoy it,
it's over.
We never get to be
a part of something
bigger than ourselves.
But what does it look like
on the flip side
if God is the one
building the house?
Well,
when God is the one
building the house,
the power and energy
to build it
comes from him
and the glory for it
goes to him.
A historical example
of this would be
the temple,
this house that Solomon built.
If you think about
the temple,
they brought in
this team of people
with incredible skills
who contributed
to the work.
They did
incredible,
intricate artwork,
carvings,
sculptures,
architecture
to build
this incredible building
and many of them
never even actually
got to see
the completed fruit
of their labor.
There were rooms
in the temple
that certain people,
only certain people
could go into.
In fact,
in the Holy of Holies,
the most sacred place
in the temple,
only one person
could go in there
one time per year.
Which means
anyone involved
in building that room
never got to take
their wife and their friends
to go say,
check out this work
that I did here.
Isn't this a great carving?
Isn't this a cool sculpture?
No, none of that.
You can never show them
what you had done,
but everyone did it.
Everyone joined in
because they knew
that their work
was going towards
the worship of God.
Their work was not in vain.
Their work was part
of something bigger.
Their work was part
of glorifying
and worshiping God.
And now most of us
won't be involved
in something like
building the temple
in our lifetime.
So what does this look like
in a modern context?
When I was a little kid,
my dad actually built
our house in the States.
He went out to the woods,
chopped down trees,
milled, like literally
milled the wood himself,
brought it back
and built it,
had some friends come over
to help him stand up the walls.
He built it from the ground up
and we moved in there
when I was two years old.
And over the years,
in that house,
my parents have raised
four boys,
constantly pointing us
towards Jesus,
constantly teaching us
to love him
and worship him.
In that house,
over the years,
numerous people
have come over
and talked to my parents
during difficult times
in their life
and found encouragement,
found encouragement
to go back to Christ
in those difficult times.
In that house,
the kitchen has been used
to cook,
I can't even guess
how many meals
for people who are sick,
for people who have
just had babies,
for people who are mourning.
In that house,
when I was about 12,
we had a homeless family
come live with us
for six months.
Literally,
out of the homeless shelter,
they came and took my bedroom
and I had to go stay
with my brothers
in their bedroom.
In that house,
amazing ministry
has happened for God
over the years.
Yes, my dad built the house,
but I believe that God
also built that house
and has used it
to make an impact
that will last
for eternity
for him.
But again,
most of us
aren't actually
going to literally
build our houses
in Hong Kong,
you know?
It just doesn't happen here.
But everyone has a place
that we live.
And what does it look like
for us to use
the places
that God has given us
for this season
in our life
to make
an eternal impact
for him?
You know,
I had some friends,
they used to go out
every Saturday night.
They had a couple kids
from the streets
that they would bring in
and these kids
would spend the night
at their house.
My friends would give them
a healthy meal to eat.
My friends would hang out
with these kids,
teach them life skills
and discipline.
My friends would teach
these kids about Jesus,
give them a safe place
to spend the night.
In the morning,
they would eat breakfast
together,
and then they would bring
the kids to church.
I think God built
that household.
God used it.
Even though they were
only in that apartment
for a couple years,
God used their time
in that household.
He built that house
to make a difference
for eternity.
And the fact is
that if God is not
building our house,
whether it's in our homes,
in our businesses,
in our church,
those who build it
labor in vain.
Like I said,
it's true even in the church.
We can have,
we could save up
lots of money,
build this great building,
have a great speaker,
and gather together
to hear talks
all about how great we are,
and just get focused
on ourselves,
lose our sight
for the gospel,
for helping the world
around us,
and all the work
that's gone into
making this incredible,
beautiful church
is in vain.
I don't think we're there
right now at Watermark,
but it very easily
could happen in the future
if God is not in it.
And it's true
not only in the church,
but in our jobs.
We can go to work,
we can stay up
all night long
trying to get
this deal done,
trying to get
the work done,
anxious.
It can be true
what's said of us
in verse 2,
it's in vain
that you rise up early
and go late to rest
eating the bread
of anxious toil.
How many of us
does that describe
staying up late
because we're stressed
about work
and then waking up
as early as we can
in the morning
because we feel
like everything
is dependent on us,
the power comes
from us,
and the glory
goes to us
for a job
that we're doing
in vain.
It says,
not only unless
the Lord builds
the house,
but unless the Lord
watches over the city,
the watchman
stays awake
in vain.
We're dependent
on God
for getting things
started and built,
but we're dependent
on God
for them maintaining
and sustaining
into the future
as well.
You can get
your house built,
but if God's not
watching over the city,
then an entire
city worth
of houses
can be destroyed
in one night.
Again,
that's true
for the church.
We can have
a healthy church
today,
but if God's
not watching
over it,
giving can stop,
attendance can stop,
the church
no longer exists.
Or,
giving can go up,
attendance can go up,
and we lose sight
of the gospel,
and the church
continues on
years and years
to come,
and no one's life
is impacted by it.
Unless the Lord
watches over the city,
the watchman
stays awake
in vain.
So God expects us
to work,
but ultimately,
every endeavor
in our lives
is dependent
on God's work
for its success
or its failure.
That is,
our effort.
Next up,
our sleep.
It says,
in the end
of verse 2,
he gives
to his beloved
sleep.
Sleep comes
from our trust
in God's provision.
If we believe
that God is a good
father who loves us
and takes care of us,
then we will sleep.
And if we don't believe
that God is a good
father who loves us
and takes care of us,
we're going to stay up
all night long
trying to provide
for ourselves
because obviously
God's not going to
provide for us
and everything's
going to go wrong
if I don't.
But God gives
to his beloved
sleep.
I love the movie
Gladiator.
Anyone here love
the movie Gladiator?
Yes?
Thank you.
It's a great movie.
If you haven't seen it,
you should.
In Gladiator,
there's this scene.
It's great.
Commodus is ruling
over the Roman Empire,
but he's stressed.
He's afraid
that all of his work
to take over the country
is going to be in vain,
that it's going to fall apart,
that he's going to lose
his power.
It's late at night.
He's wide awake,
and he's standing
in the doorway
to his nephew's bedroom
watching his nephew sleep.
And his sister
walks up behind him,
and he turns to her,
and he says,
he sleeps so well
because he knows
that he is loved.
He sleeps so well
because he knows
that he is loved.
If we are Christians,
and we have a God
who takes care of us
and provides for us,
that's what the world
should be saying about us.
Those Christians,
they sleep so well
because they know
that they're loved.
If we look at this passage again,
this part that says,
he gives to his beloved sleep,
there's actually
a possible alternate translation
for this line.
It can,
if you look at
the original language,
it could also be translated,
he gives to his beloved
in their sleep.
Slight change,
but a slightly different
meaning as well.
It's not just that
God gives us sleep,
but that as we sleep,
God gives us all the things
that we would have been
stressing over
if we had stayed awake.
We could stay up all night
stressing about
whether the business deal
is going to go through,
or we can go to sleep.
And God is capable
of making that happen
while we are asleep.
Now, it's not going to happen
every single night
that amazing things happen,
but God provides for us
in our sleep,
which is why we are able
to sleep.
A picture of this
happens in the Bible
in the book of Acts.
The apostle Peter,
he's arrested.
He's in prison,
and he's going to be executed
the next day.
I don't know about you,
but I feel like
if I was in prison
about to be executed
the next day,
I would be awake,
plotting,
hey, maybe I could get
this guard's key off of him
while he sleeps
and unlock everything.
Do you think that
would wake them up?
Maybe.
I'm not really sure,
but then there's the other guard
I also have to get past.
What can I do?
Maybe my friends will jump me
while I'm being transported
tomorrow to the execution place.
I'm not really sure.
But Peter sleeps.
The night before his execution,
he is asleep.
And in the middle of the night,
an angel appears,
his chains fall off,
the prison door breaks open,
and he's able to walk right out,
free.
Peter was able to sleep
because in his sleep,
God provided his rescue.
God gives to his beloved
in their sleep.
We can sleep at night
because while we sleep,
God still cares for us,
God still provides for us,
God still takes care of us.
We can stay up,
anxious,
stressed,
worried,
or we can rest,
sleep,
because we have a God
who loves us.
Looking down at verse 3,
behold,
children are a heritage
from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb,
a reward.
If we think about
what we stress about in life,
so much of it relates
to kids and the future.
How are their grades?
Where are they going to go to school?
Can we afford to have kids?
Can we even have kids?
But then,
in the midst of all our stress,
all our worry,
comes the statement
that God gives us kids.
This happens on a physical level,
that God physically gives children,
and it says here
that he gives them as a gift,
not a burden,
by the way.
I think our culture often
sees them as more of a burden,
but it says here
that they are a gift.
And really,
if God's big enough
to give us children,
then surely he's going
to be big enough
to provide for those children
throughout their life.
God gives children
as a blessing for his people.
If you think about the context
that this was written in,
this is written during
the Old Testament,
which means that it's,
God's promises
at this point in time
were made to the nation of Israel
through Abraham.
Abraham was the founding father
of the nation of Israel,
if you go way,
way back in time.
And God made a promise
to Abraham.
He said that he would
give him three things.
He said that he would
bless him,
said that he would give him
a land for his descendants
to live in,
and he said that he would
give him descendants,
that he would multiply him
and make him into
a great nation.
And this promise
followed the descendants
down the line.
If you were an Israelite
and you had kids,
that meant God
was blessing you.
God loves you.
God has provided you
with children.
God has kept his promise
to Abraham through you.
If you don't have kids,
maybe there's something wrong.
If you don't have kids,
maybe God's withholding
his blessing from you.
And so,
what he's saying here
is that kids were a sign
that God was keeping
his promise.
Kids were a sign
that God was giving
his blessing.
That is why kids
are a heritage
or an inheritance
from the Lord.
But what about people
who can't have kids?
Whether it's a married couple
who's just physically
unable to,
or a single person
who can't have kids
because in obedience
to God,
they're living a celibate life
and they can't have kids.
In the New Testament,
Paul talks about
the advantages
of a single life
for a Christian.
And how can it be
that if children
are a blessing
and single people
living in obedience
God can't have kids,
that that's a good thing?
Well, if you look
at these promises
that God gave
to Old Testament Israel,
what you see
is that in the New Testament,
these promises
are fulfilled in Christ.
That through Christ,
God is forming
a people for himself.
That through Christ,
God has established
a kingdom
that will last forever.
That through Christ,
God has given
his blessing
to the entire world.
Which means
that these promises
that God gave
to Abraham
actually still apply
to Christians today,
but we interpret
them differently
through the lens
of Christ.
Which means
that the family of God
is now
a spiritual family.
Yes, there's a people
of God,
but the thing
that unites us
is not our literal
physical bloodlines,
but the blood of Christ,
our common faith
in him.
And so the Bible
tells us
that if we are Christians,
we are all brothers
and sisters
with one another.
in the book
of Corinthians,
Paul talks about
how he became
their father
in Christ
when he shared
with them about Jesus
and they trusted
in him.
And what the Bible
tells us
is that God,
whether we have
physical children
or not,
whether we're married
or single,
young or old,
that God wants us
and expects us
to be spiritual parents,
to be people
who share his word
with others
so that they can
come to know him,
so that they can be
brought into the family
through us.
And God gives us
children today,
physically and spiritually,
as a blessing,
as a way of
building his family,
that physical children,
yes,
but also spiritual children
are a heritage
from the Lord
because God uses us
to impact
their eternity.
and if you look at it,
it says that children
are supposed to be
arrows.
I don't know if you've
ever thought much
about arrows
and the life
of an arrow.
Arrows are made
to be sent out.
I know a lot of parents
who really want
their kids
to have a perfectly
safe life,
to stay close to home,
to be comfortable,
but God says
children are meant
to be arrows.
Arrows are weapons
used in war
and hunting.
The life of an arrow
is not a safe life.
If your goal
for your kids
is nothing more
for them to stay safe,
then I want to ask you today,
do you have the same plans
for your kids
as God does?
God wants us
to raise up children,
physically and spiritually,
who will make an impact
for him in the world.
Children who will go out
and serve in their communities,
maybe even go overseas
as missionaries.
Children who will be
lights for him,
who will be arrows
that pierce the darkness
of the world.
So if you have kids
here today,
how are you preparing
your arrows
to be released?
You know,
the amazing thing
about an arrow
is that if it's aimed
properly,
it can do great damage
to the enemy.
If it's aimed poorly,
it can do great damage
to your own side.
If you're an arrow,
or if you're a parent
here today,
and you put the same
amount of effort
into your job
as you do
into your parenting,
would you still
have a job tomorrow?
If your friends
were to watch
the way that you
interact with your family
and the way that
you lead them,
would they think
that you're more concerned
about where your kids
go to college
or where they spend
eternity?
God has given us
children as a blessing,
but he's also given us
to them as an incredible
tool to be used
for his kingdom.
And are we using
them responsibly?
And again,
just as with everything
else in life,
how our kids turn out
ultimately is dependent
on God.
But he expects us
to be working
alongside of him
to raise them up
towards him.
There's a pastor
in the States
named Matt Chandler,
and I love his description
of their parenting.
He says,
you know,
my wife and I,
we constantly
talk to our kids
about Jesus.
We bring them
to church every week,
we pray with them,
we read the Bible
with them,
but we also try
to do things
to remind them
that God is good
and that he loves them.
So when I ask my daughter
what's her favorite color
and she says pink,
I say,
do you know where
pink comes from?
And I tell her,
God made the color pink
because he loves
beautiful things
and he wants to create
a beautiful world
for you to enjoy.
Or he tells stories
about how they'd put
their kids to bed at night,
get them all settled down,
and then 10 minutes later
go back and wake the kids up
and take them out
for a late night donut run
to remind their kids
that it's not all about rules,
that we as parents love you
and even more,
God as your heavenly father
loves you.
But then he says,
after having done
everything that I possibly can
to raise my kids properly
and point them towards God,
I put them to bed
at the end of the night
and I walk around
to each of their rooms
and I beg for God
to save their souls.
He mixes his metaphors
and talks a little bit
about it like a bonfire.
He says,
what I do
is I take all this kindling
and I wood
and I pile it up
and then I douse it
with gasoline
and I pray for God
to send a spark
that will light it
so that,
but in the meantime
while I wait,
I build that pile
as big as I can
so that when the spark comes,
it will burn
as bright
and as long
as possible.
Children are a heritage
from the Lord,
a great blessing
but a great responsibility.
And again,
just like anything else,
our parenting is dependent
on God's work
but
when we've done
all that we can
to raise our kids
and point them
towards Christ,
we can go to bed
at the end of the night
and sleep
because we have
a good Father
who loves us
and cares for us
and provides for us.
So we've seen our effort,
we've seen our sleep,
finally,
our hope.
You know,
this idea of
being able to sleep
and not needing
to be anxious
and not needing
to be stressed,
it's a great idea
in theory
but is it practical?
Can we live it
in the real world?
Ultimately,
that comes down
to one question.
Is God for us
or against us?
Because if God is for us,
then we can.
We can sleep,
we can rest
because we know
that he's going to provide
and take care of us.
And if God's against us,
then we're probably
not going to succeed,
definitely won't succeed,
but we still need
to try everything
we anxiously can,
give up sleep,
to try,
try to make it work
because we don't have
a Heavenly Father
who's going to take care of us.
Is God for us
or against us?
And how can we know?
How can we know for sure
whether he is for us
or against us?
The answer comes
from the cross.
See, at the cross,
Jesus,
fully God
and fully man,
came to earth
when we were in
rebellion against God,
when we had said to God,
we hate you,
we want nothing
to do with you,
stay away from us,
let us live our lives
the way that we want,
we had declared ourselves
as enemies against God
and we were deserving
of his destruction.
Jesus came down
to the earth
as fully God
and fully man
and he bore
all of the punishment
that we deserve
for our rebellion
at the cost
of his own life.
At the cross,
God provided
for our greatest need
at the greatest cost
possible
to himself.
And if God
is going
to provide
for our greatest need
at the greatest cost
possible to himself,
then surely
he's going to provide
for all of our other needs
as well.
Romans chapter 8
verses 31
and 32
says,
if God is for us,
who can be
against us?
He who did not
spare his own son
but gave him up
for us all,
how will he not
also with him
graciously give us
all things?
Modern translation,
if God loved us
enough to give up
his son for us,
he's going to love us
enough to give up
anything else for us
that we possibly
could need.
If you have kids,
think about this
for a second.
How many people
on earth are there
that you would
sacrifice your
child's life
to save?
I'm guessing
for most of you
that list is like
zero,
maybe one.
But you think
about whoever
possibly made
that list
of people
that you would
sacrifice your
child's life
to save.
If that person
came up to you
and asked you
for a meal,
would you say
no to them?
Of course not.
You love them
enough to give up
the most valuable
thing in the world
to you,
you're going to
give them a meal,
you're going to
give them a place
to stay,
because you love
them,
because you care
for them.
God gave up
his son
for us.
He's going to
provide everything
else that we
need.
And,
you know,
I talked earlier
about if God
doesn't build
the church,
you know,
in addition,
God has promised
to build the
church as well.
Now,
it's not a
categorical promise
that watermark's
just going to
exist forever,
but it means
that while we're
here,
the things that
we're doing
for God's
kingdom are
going to have
an eternal
impact,
that God's
going to use
the preaching
of his word
and the lives
that we live,
to spread
his kingdom
in the earth.
So what
difference does
this make
in our lives?
If you're not
a Christian,
trust in Jesus.
You know,
these things that
I've been saying
about how God
loves us,
how God gave
up his son
for us,
how God is
on our side
and not against
us,
if we are
still declaring
ourselves as
enemies against
God by refusing
to trust in
Jesus,
then God
says,
okay,
you're still
enemies.
But he still
wants us
to be his
children and
his friends
and he offers
us today
that if you
have never
trusted in
Jesus to
forgive you
for your
rebellion against
God,
that you can
have forgiveness,
you can have
new life,
all you have
to do is
ask.
So if you
have never
done that
before,
I encourage
you to do
that today.
And if
you're here
and you
are a
Christian,
if you
trust in
this God
who is so
big,
so loving,
so powerful,
what difference
does this make
in our lives?
Let's sleep
this week.
You know,
we say we
worship a God
who's all
powerful,
who loves
us,
who provides
for us,
even when
we sleep,
and yet for
so many of
us,
we stay up
late,
we stay up
anxious and
stressed.
but this
week,
let's view
climbing into
bed as an
act of
worship.
Probably never
thought of it
that way before,
but let's view
climbing into
bed as an
act of
worship.
It's an
intentional
step where
we can say,
God,
I know there's
more I can
do.
I know there's
more I could
stress out about
and be anxious
about.
I know I could
stay up later
and do more
work,
but I'm
trusting in
you,
and I'm
climbing into
bed.
I'm going
to get a
good night's
sleep because
I know,
God,
that you are
a good
father who
loves me,
who cares
for me,
who's on
my side,
and who
provides for
me.
Let's pray.
Father,
we thank you
that you are
a good
father.
We thank you
that in the
times where
we turn to
stress,
when we turn
to anxiety,
that you're
there,
and you're
aware of
everything that's
going on in
our hearts,
in our minds,
and in the
world around
us,
and that you
care.
We thank you
that you have
provided for our
greatest need at
the greatest
possible cost to
yourself that there
is,
and that you've
promised to
provide for all
of our other
needs as well.
We pray that we
be a church that
trusts that,
that is able to
sleep,
sleeping so well
because we know
that we are
loved.
Thank you that
you're good.
We thank you
that you love
us.
In Jesus' name,
amen.