Who is giving you your name?

"They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:3-4

"The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. 
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3

I am reading Christopher Wilkin's book on biblical critical theory. In one of the chapters, he discusses the difference between man's attempts to make a name for himself and when God does. When man does it, there is much labor and a rejection of God's plan. When God does it, the key is to follow and be shown. In the Babel account, I can imagine the work turning into little more than a slave labor camp with the equality found in Orsen Well's Animal Farm. In God's economy, yes there is labor but the real price is being paid by God. 

As I considered this, I had to ask myself, "Are you more worried about making a name for yourself or trusting God to do it?" I believe there are things we should do to promote our labors at times, but the question of who am I trusting isn't far from my mind. I will be honest I have probably gone to both extremes from time to time. Either not doing what I should while trusting God and then doing things to promote myself rather than letting God do it. At the end of the day, I think that as long as I keep asking the question, "Whose building my house(name)?" then I will be less likely to get too far off the right path. 

Photo by Ainur Iman on Unsplash