Some architect friends of mine once told me that the frustrating thing about being an architect is when people ask you to design a home for them, but you discover they've already designed it and just want your stamp of approval on the blueprints. Many Christians do the same with God when it comes to building a family. They try to design it themselves, then they plop it down and say, "Oh yeah, God, by the way, would You bless this?"

The smartest way to build a home is to discover the blueprint that the original architect already designed and stick with that. As Solomon wrote in Psalm 127, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (v. 1). According to this psalm, a smart home--a family that depends on God--has four elements:

1. The designer. The psalm begins by highlighting God because He is the divine architect of the home. Marriage, family, and love were all His idea (see Genesis 2:18). If any of these things were man's invention, then man could regulate them, nullify them, and redefine them all he wanted. But because they were all God's idea, they're subject to His principles.

2. The builders. Verse 1 indicates that the divine builder is God, but it also includes human builders--they, the ones in the home. Life is lived at its best when you build alongside the Lord using His design. Psalm 127 goes on to describe what these human builders are building: relationships. You can build projects for temporal profit (see v. 2), or you can build people for spiritual, eternal profit (see vv. 3-5). You can do both, but if you have to choose one, the second is much more preferable.

3. The dwellers. The smart home comprises a man (see v. 5) and his wife and children (see vv. 3-4). But the Lord is also mentioned as being part of this unit. He builds and "guards the city" (v. 1) and gives the inhabitants sleep (see v. 2). What that tells me is God wants to be part of every aspect of your family's life. He doesn't want to be confined to Sunday mornings and the Bible on the nightstand. The Lord wants you to enjoy life (see 1 Timothy 6:17) and enjoy Him in your life.

4. Speaking of enjoyment, let's end with the enjoyers. "Happy is the man who has his quiver full of [arrows]" (v. 5), or children. Happy comes from a Hebrew word that means blissful, contented, or satisfied. That's what a smart home does: it makes happy people. So, happy is the man, happy is his wife, and happy are his children in the home because the Lord has designed it, the Lord has helped them build it, and the Lord has strengthened, provided for, and protected it.

Are you building according to the divine architect's plans? And have you invited Him to be part of every area of your home? You'll discover the thrill of Him providing for and protecting your relationships today, and you'll be able to rest in the promise of joining Him in His everlasting home for all eternity.