“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.”  Psalms 127:1

Several years ago, I went through a rather dark period where I struggled with feelings of isolation, loneliness, and severe burnout due to some difficult classes as well as issues with several close friends. Through much of that time, I felt more and more like I was working towards an invisible goal. The end of my school days was nowhere in sight and I almost never saw the same fruits of my labor that someone working an actual job would see.

Eventually, I began to feed into it and isolate myself from those around me. My parents, my friends, my church. The one thing I felt I had left to guide me was music.

This coincided with my participation in a choral event called the WSMA State Honors program, which sent an elite group of singers my age to work with a world-renowned director in a three-day training course, with a concert to be held at the end of the weekend, It was in preparation for this event that I first encountered a piece entitled ‘Nisi Dominus’, a Latin  translation of a Psalms verse and my favorite piece in our concert set. Out of curiosity, I took out my bible and found the English version of the text I loved to sing so much. That text just happened to be the verse I chose to be the focus for this devotional!

Through that chance discovery, I found the verse that I used to help flip my life around. I don’t need to be able to see my goals, as long as God had them in his heart and is leading me in the right direction. I can rest easy knowing that my labor is not in vain, as long as the Lord stands firm behind me. Using this changed mindset, I was able to reintegrate myself back into my own life, I became close with my old friends, and made some new ones too. I reconnected with, childhood love of learning, and I now find school more enjoyable than ever. And most importantly, I got more involved with my confirmation classes at church, and even started singing at Sunday services on occasion (which is where most of you probably know me from)! So know that your life and your labor is never in vain, so long as you have God in all his mercy standing beside you.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that even through the most difficult times in my life, I will have the clear vision to see Your work in everything I do, and trust that You are beside me always, Amen.