This morning I was
reading in 2 Samuel 7 and it is where David’s heart is to build a place for the
ark of God to rest in rather than a tent.
“Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in
a tent”. He recognises something
that is not right and sets about to put God in his proper place of honour.
A few years ago we
were managing a sheep and beef farm and the Lord spoke to us out of the book of
Haggai 1, verse 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your
panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin.” This scripture changed the complete direction of where we
were heading.
We were Christians, we
were going to church, fully involved in Church, leading a cell group, on the church
council, leading worship, doing Sunday School etc. at the time but then God challenged us with the book of
Haggai and we realised that we were in fact building our own house even though
we were doing God things as well.
Our heart was to make money so that we could have enough to buy our own farm
and work it while we were young.
And then the Lord showed us, why did we have to own our own farm, we
were caretakers of everything he gave us so why did we need to have our own
farm, why not be content with managing?
And so step by step
the Lord has led us away from farming and into building his house, the church,
but first we needed a radical wake up call as to the direction we were
heading. After surrendering our
plans and purposes to the Lords and his desires for our lives rather than our
own, we have had such a journey that we would not have changed. We did not even realise the direction
we were heading it was so ingrained in us from childhood that this was what you
did. But in allowing God to show
us our hearts at the core and be changed by it, we have had such a fulfilled
life and the promises of God are way more than we can imagine.
In surrendering not
only our desires for faming but also our plans towards our child and the
direction of her life, I was blessed & encouraged too this morning in 2 Sam
7 – because David set about to build and honour the Lord and make His name
great, God promised to make David’s name great, but not only that he promises
that his children will succeed him and that God would establish his kingdom. “When your days are over and you rest
with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come
from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom”. I realise this promise is for
David but I too believe that because I am building the house of the Lord and his
covenant with me, that our daughter has an inheritance that the Lord will give
her, not perhaps as the world sees an inheritance, but a spiritual inheritance
that will far outweigh anything of the earth and that encouraged me greatly
that the Lord will take care of her and his hand will be upon her.