“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps 126:1).
These words are a profound invitation to surrender ourselves completely to our Father in all areas of our existence, always seeking His ways. Certainly there are things in life that we must decide for ourselves, because God has entrusted them to us. But even here we must examine ourselves: In what spirit do we do things, with our eyes fixed on the Lord to always find the right way, or are we too focused on our own efforts?
Jesus tells us very clearly: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). We can understand this in the following way: without God’s blessing – and therefore without His concrete approval of our path – the fruitfulness intended for our earthly life cannot unfold. The house of our life would not be built according to God’s plan if we did not allow Him to build it and if we did not allow ourselves to be His collaborators, following His indications.
How difficult such a life is! Instead of being firmly founded on the love of the Father, we try to replace everything with our own efforts. As a result, it lacks the supernatural splendour that life acquires when our Father is the architect, and we will often find that we have exhausted ourselves in vain.
The key, then, is not to rely primarily on our own efforts, but to walk through life hand in hand with our Father, allowing Him to transform it into a work of His grace. We could never do it alone, but we have a heavenly architect who takes great pleasure in fashioning us in His image and decorating the house of our lives with His gifts.