Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?
Just what is it you can do for God, that God can't do for himself? If God created the heavens and the earth, what does he need you for? It is only hubris and fear that drives you to do things "in the name of the Lord".
And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prize in all places to which thou goest.
Doing things for God is just trying to make yourself feel important. You need to concentrate on your life, not on doing things for God.
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
Life happens. Great efforts at religious activity won't protect you from anything.
And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee. And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying,
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. ... the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
Sometimes, your spiritual advisors just get it wrong. The good ones admit it.
You don't need to pay God back. You don't need to show everyone how great God is. It's just your ego driving you; it's just chest thumping. God would seem to be much more interested in building you a house, than he is in having you build a house for him.
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
This life is about us. We are here now. Whether or not there is another one after this is unknowable. We need to live this life, not waste it with religious activity or "doing things for God" in vain attempts to avoid hardship, stroke our egos, and make it to the next life.
A monk asked Zhaozhou to teach him.
Zhaozhou asked, "Have you eaten your meal?”
The monk replied, "Yes, I have."
"Then go wash your bowl", said Zhaozhou.
At that moment, the monk was enlightened.
Do what you need to do today. Don't worry about what God wants. Running the universe is a big job - we have our hands full getting through the day.
We do things for ourselves. It's always about us, what we want, even if somebody else benefits from our actions. To say we're doing things for God is just being blind to our own motivations. You're better off being real with yourself, so you can pursue the things you really want. Then you can have the most positive effect on the world around you.
It is much easier to be tolerant, kind, nurturing, and supporting when we are happy, our hearts are full, and our circumstances are restful. Personal happiness is our focus. Everything else flows from that.