Gary and Carol Word, Monday, July 14, 2008

You know me, Master God, just as I am. You’ve done all this not because of who I am but because of who you are - out of your very heart! - but you’ve let me in on it. This is what makes you so great, Master God! There is none like you, no God but you, nothing to compare with what we’ve heard with our own ears. And who is like your people, … unique in the earth, whom God set out to redeem for himself, performing great and fearsome acts … You established for yourself a people - your very own - permanently. And you, God, became their God.

So now, great God, this word that you have spoken to me and my family, guarantee it permanently! Do exactly what you’ve promised! Then your reputation will flourish always as people exclaim, ‘The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant will remain sure and solid in your watchful presence. For you, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, told me plainly, ‘I will build you a house.’ That’s how I was able to find the courage to pray this prayer to you.

And now, Master God, being the God you are, speaking sure words as you do, and having just said this wonderful thing to me, please, just one more thing: Bless my family; keep your eye on them always. Oh, may your blessing be on my family permanently!

We have been looking at David, who is now “King David”. After being anointed at the age of 17, he remained faithful to the calling God had upon his life, even when it seemed he might not survive to BE king. But David trusted God. We read in II Samuel 7 how things seemed to have calmed down – verse 1: “When King David dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies…”

David was a man of action. He seemed to need a project. Now there were no battles to fight, his own palace was completed and one day, it dawned on him “Hey, wait a minute here! I have this really nice house of cedar and stone and God, the Creator of the Ends of the Earth, is living in a TENT! What is wrong with this picture? I am going to build a house for God!”

This was a dream that began to grow in David’s mind and heart. Nathan was the chief prophet after Samuel and David tells him what he wants to do. Nathan thinks this is a GREAT idea! He tells David “Hey, go for it!”

That night, God spoke to Nathan. He told Nathan to tell David he would not be the one to build Him a House. He would give that project to one of his children. No explanation as to why. So, Nathan breaks the news to David. He told David that God said “No! You cannot build My House”.

David goes to his special place of prayer and sits before God. I am sure his heart was heavy. He was disappointed. He wanted to DO something for God. God had been so good to him and brought him through so many tough times. It was a good dream. It was not to bring David glory but to bring God glory. His heart was right before God. But he did not go to God and start whining and say “Why not God? What’s wrong with ME? I thought You loved me? I just wanted to do something nice for You. Why don’t You let me build Your House?”

No, David sits. He sits in the Presence of God. One of my favorite verses in Psalms says “Be STILL and KNOW that I Am God!” David sat and was still. And the sweet Presence of God overcame him. He began to pray. He began to worship. He began to praise God. He never asked God which son would build the house. He simply trusted God.

For me, the message here is this – we may have a dream, it is a noble, worthy dream. A dream to do good. A dream to bring glory to God. But as we have looked at before “to OBEY is better than sacrifice”. Sometimes, a dream may be born in us, but fulfilled in someone else. Maybe God will use us to birth the dream, to nurture the dream, to plan the dream, but He will raise up someone else to see it through to completion. You may think “But that is not fair! I birthed the dream. I nurtured the dream. I planned the dream. I got everything together needed to have the dream fulfilled. WHY can’t I see it through to its’ completion?”

Our problem is that we look at things with a limited view. David wanted to build a temple to God, but God had a much better plan for David. He wanted to give David a much greater honor. Temples can be torn down. But a “House” as far as a family line – can go on forever. I Chronicles 17 tells us why God refused David’s request – because David was a man of war. He had blood on his hands. This was his purpose in life. He brought the kingdom together under one rule for the first time in history. He conquered the final tribe that was holding out – the Jebusites – and this was where David said he would establish the capital and renamed it “Jerusalem”. The dream to build a temple for God was born in David’s heart but God raised up Solomon, David’s son, who was a man of peace and of wisdom to actually oversee the building of the temple.

In I Kings 8:17-18, when the Temple is being dedicated, God credited David with having built the Temple. David spent 40 years gathering the material to build the Temple then turned it over to Solomon to complete. When David died, there was not even a foundation but verse 18 said God gave David, not Solomon, the credit for building the Temple because it was in David’s heart to build it. The bottom line is this: God looks at the motives of our hearts. He looks on what we would have done if we had had the ability and opportunity as much as, if not MORE, than what we actually did. The dreams and desires we have now – if they are of God – will be fulfilled. It wasn’t that the dream of a Temple for God was wrong. God has a perfect plan. If you do not do your part – which may be to dream it up – God will have to choose someone else and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to face Him one day and say “I know I had this dream but when I saw I would not see it through to completion I gave it up”.

Instead of focusing on the end product, do what you know to do. Do you have a dream? Don’t stop dreaming. Don’t stop working for that dream. Talk about it. Build upon it. You never know but maybe God wants to use you to get the ball rolling. He may have someone else with another part. Consider this. There is group of people given just one piece of a puzzle. There mission is to find out who has a piece of the puzzle that matches their puzzle piece. If they hide that puzzle piece away and never tell anyone about it, they never will fulfill their mission. Maybe they talk to five people who say “You are crazy. What are you talking to me about a puzzle piece? I have no idea what you are talking about.” Then, one day, maybe the 88th person they talk to says “Hey, I have a puzzle piece. Let’s see if they fit!” Sure enough, they do. You are both excited. You have both been looking for SOMEONE who had another puzzle piece. Then, someone overhears your excitement and you tell them about it and low and behold, THEY have a puzzle piece too and it FITS! Then, word starts to spread. There are these three people who have been looking for others with puzzle pieces and by “chance” they found each other. Someone, unknown to the original three hears the story, seeks them out and says “I have a puzzle piece, can I see if mine fits?” This person is unknown and different from you and you may think “THEIR puzzle could not POSSIBLY be part of MY puzzle” but you humor them and sure enough, it fits. This goes on and on until a more complete picture emerges. Excitement is building. With each new piece, the reality of a complete puzzle is a fact. Now, you come to the end. You are pretty sure there are no more puzzle pieces as you look over everything. Except, something is missing. The edges are there. The general picture is there, but there is one glaring hole – right in the middle. The missing piece cannot be found. Everyone is upset. Finally, someone who had one of the many blue sky pieces says “Why don’t we pray about it? That is how I came to be here. I know God directed my steps.” Some scoff. Others look shocked. Still others bow their heads. You begin to pray. “Father, You have brought us all here together for a reason. You gave us all a piece of the puzzle. We want to see it complete. Where is the missing piece?”

And He says “That is what I have been waiting for – I have it!”