God's plans

King David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said no. David’s bloody hands weren’t the right ones for that job, so God gave it to Solomon. 

But David was still the driver behind the project. And God not only approved, he used David for that purpose. Solomon would build a magnificent temple, but he would do it using plans that came from God, through David.

“Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. . . . ’All this,’ David said, ‘I have in writing as a result of the Lord 's hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.’" 1 Chronicles 28:11-12, 19.

It strikes me that, when something is important, God has very specific plans. He gives a lot of detailed direction, for example, about my relationship to him, as well as my relationship with fellow believers. He has a different set of plans for my relationships with non-believers. He tells me a lot about how I’m supposed to care for the earth yet use its resources. He gives a lot of detail about blessings and how I’m supposed to use them.

Equally detailed are his plans for emergencies and disasters. His first and most-often repeated instruction, “Fear not,” is critical and yet I often forget it.

This morning, and every day, I can look at the temple that is my body and the act of worship that is my life and echo the words of David: “I have this all in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand, and he enables me to understand all the details of his plan.” 

I feel convicted not just to understand the plan, but to pass it to my children, just as David did. And as I try to live out the plan, my prayer is they will too.