God's Dreams or Ours

But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’  (1 Chronicles 28:3 NIV)  

 

  David was excited about building the Temple for the Lord, yet he could not build it.  The test for David was whether his dream was God’s or his. 

 

I have had some ups and downs in my service for the Lord.  I once served as a ministry leader and had great hopes and dreams.  Not long after I started, I was abruptly taken out of my leadership role.  Some years later, I was asked to serve on the board of directors for this ministry.  The question I had to ask myself was, did I own my dreams, or did God? To this day, I serve on this board and get great pleasure in seeing some of the plans that I had accomplished through another leader.

 

David seemed to have the same anticipation for seeing the Temple being built by this son Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:10-21 NLT).  It is not about who gets to accomplish the work, but are God’s plans being fulfilled?  President Reagan had a plaque on his office wall that said, “there is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”It is much the same in Christian service.

 

I am convinced that many do not see their dreams fulfilled, not because they are not faithful enough, but they are unwilling to give them up. Give them up in the sense of allowing others to come in and take responsibility with a little different skillset—people, who because of their calling and gifting, can take the work to a higher level.  In 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (NLT), the Apostle Paul instructs us that it is not important who plants or waters, but that God brings the increase.

 

There is a strange dichotomy in the Kingdom of God. If you give something up, you keep it.  If you lose it, you find it.  If God has the ultimate ownership of our plans and dreams, He has the right and responsibility to decide who and how they are accomplished.  It is not about us but Him.  Are your dreams God’s?  If so, then they are bigger than you, and He is the only one that can fulfill them.

 

The image used by permission from Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

 

Our True Hero

But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.”  So David took his 600 men and went over and joined Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.  (1 Samuel 27:1-2 NLT) 

We love to hear and speak about the heroes of the Bible, and rightly so.

Yet, the true hero in all our Bible stories is always God.

 

David was said to be a “man after God’s own heart,” yet we see him giving up and going over to the enemy. Subsequently, he has to feign insanity to stay alive (1 Samuel 21:13). In the end, King Achish forsakes David (1 Samuel 29). Unbelief always leads to disappointment.

 

David’s experience is not an isolated story in the Bible. Elijah, after his great victory over Baal on Mount Carmel, ran in fear from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:1-3). After saying that he would die for the Lord, Peter denied Him three times ((Luke 22:54-62). At times, the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants reads like a trashy novel. The Bible clearly records that the best of us still have clay feet.

 

We don’t like to hear things like this about our heroes, yet God must have a message for us. God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will.  We should never place our security in mere flesh. I am not suggesting that God is not concerned with bad behavior because he is. Nevertheless, if he waited to use us until all our ducks are in a row, he would be delaying a long time.  Unflattering stories about our Bible heroes can be an encouragement to us. They remind us that the true hero in all our stories is the Lord Jesus, and if God can use the fallible characters described in the Bible, he might be able to show his glory through flawed people like you and me. 

 

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com