Unaccomplished Dreams

“He (God) told me, moreover: ‘Your son Solomon, he will build My house and my courts—for I have chosen that one to be My son, and I will be his Father.’” 1 Chronicles 28:6

It is amazing the grace and elegance with which King David turns over the dream of building the Lord’s Temple to his son. David had desired to build it after realizing he lived in a palace and God’s “dwelling place” was still the Tabernacle, a tent.

God told David that he was not the one to build the Temple, but that his son, Solomon would. God disqualified David because he had been a “man of war”. At the same time, though, God gave David encouraging promises about the future of Solomon.

At this point, David is reminding the people and his son, what God had said. David was a man of emotion, and I wonder if he may have started this with a tear in his eye. He was entirely devoted to God, so there was no question about obeying Him in the construction of the Temple. But, at the same time, it is always heart-wrenching to turn over a personal dream to someone else.

As the old saying goes, “There is no limit to what can be accomplished if you do not care who gets the credit.” Easier said, than done, of course. But, ultimately it is an undeniable truth.

There seems to be a thin line between the drive that gets things accomplished and the egomania that insists it is only accomplished if we are at the head. David had drive, dreams and a dovtion to God. For him, it was what mattered to God that was important in the end.

So, he announces his son will build the Temple. And the tear may have started down his cheek for yet another reason. This is Solomon, son of Bathsheba, the woman with whom he committed adultery. The son of the woman whose wife David had murdered to prevent his discovery of the affair.

God personally picks Solomon as the builder of His own temple. Solomon was not even the first born, yet he was chosen as the next to reign. Perhaps David did betray a bit of emotion as he remembered the life-giving grace of God. Though the child born of the adultery died, the next son born to David and Bathsheba now stood on the brink of fulfilling God’s promises of building a Temple.

What dream remains unaccomplished in your life? Or, did someone else receive credit? Learn the grace that God gave David. It was not about whether David got to do the job, it was about whether it was going to be accomplished. David didn’t simply sit back, he went on about the rest of the things God had for him to do.

I think that is the best way for us to respond when dreams are not realized. Pursue God, not the dream. Keep walking with Him, and simply do the next thing that is good. And, like David, remember the constant undeserved grace God has poured into your life.

Even when we have accomplished something, it is because God’s grace has allowed it. We can only go so far with talents and dreams; if God is not in it, it becomes simply a toothpick structure easily destroyed.

Keep moving ahead. Keep obeying God. Keep letting God’s grace flow today, no matter what yesterday felt like or what tomorrow brings. His grace accomplishes far more than our solo efforts ever can.