Unless The Lord

"Unless the Lord builds the house,

they labor in vain that build it.

Except the Lord watches the city,

the  watchman waketh but in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early,

to stay up late, to eat the bread of sorrows

For He gives to His beloved sleep" - Psalm 127: 1-2

As part of a new meditation practice I am trying to implement following this weekend's Men's retreat, I started with Psalm 127.  It is a favorite of mine, one I actually know well.  

As part of the meditation exercise, you are to review the verse (repeatedly) and at one point see what sticks out at you.  "Unless the Lord" jumped out at me - mostly because it is pretty clear, right?  Unless the Lord builds the house, you might as well not build. Unless the Lord keeps the city, all the watchmen in the world cannot protect it.  And what does it matter if you get up early or stay late trying to get ahead? Unless the Lord is in it, you fail - because He makes sure His beloved have sleep and their needs met. 

Very lovely. Very cut and neatly wrapped.

But that is not the part that stuck out at me.

"Unless the Lord..."  Unless the Lord is in it, it will not succeed.

But how, my mind asked, does you know if the Lord is in it?

Extend the phrase.  "Unless the Lord is in the marriage, it is doomed for divorce"  or "Unless the Lord is in the business, it is doomed to failure" or even  "Unless the Lord is in the hobby, it will be a waste of time and money.' It extends to everything - every part of life.  But how, my mind asked again do you know the Lord is in it?

It is not as if He announces at the beginning of every endeavor "Here I am.  Carry on."    We can think we know.  We can guess.  We can cherry pick verses or look to circumstances to guide us, but those have led me as oft astray as they have correctly.  

Surely there are occasional times for all of us when this is true, that moment that we can say "Yes, the Lord is in this".  But am I wrong in thinking these are a lot fewer, at least in my own life, than circumstances and situations I have to deal with?

Is there a resolution?  I do not know.  Going forward I guess so - wait until you see if God is in something before you begin it (but is there a time limit?  And how does that work in our age of speed?).  But what about those things we are already enmeshed in - what about those?  Do we assume if it has not fallen apart yet that it is "of the Lord"?  Or do o we assume that it will fall apart at some point and just do the best we can at that point?  

I wish I had better answers.  But all I can see etched in my mind is "Unless the Lord".  

What terrifies me is how few things I can actually apply this to.