1 Kings 8:17-19 (NIV) “My father had it in his heart to build a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my
Name, you did well to have this in your heart. Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, who is your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple in my name.’”
1 Chronicles 22:5 (NIV) David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all nations.
Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.
Deuteronomy 3:25-28 (NASB) [Moses speaking] “Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan…But the Lord was angry with me on your account…and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak no more on this matter…Go up…see it with your eyes…for you shall not cross over this Jordan. But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’”
For the first thirty-eight years of my walk with the Lord, I persistently worked on a book that I hoped to publish someday. I identified with it too closely. My self-esteem, and unfortunately, a degree of pride were rooted in how others perceived that book. Oh, I didn’t think that way intentionally. I wasn’t
mindful of my heart condition because when that still, small voice would whisper to me regarding the truth, I simply dismissed it. It was almost as if I would shake my head to get the uncomfortable thought out of there. I preferred to believe the book glorified God and God alone, as it should have. To a large
degree, I did want it to glorify God. However, I grappled with a small corner of what was rightfully His glory and hurt myself by doing so. God never meant for that book to be a presentation of who I am. He meant it to be a presentation of Christ working in and through me.
When I sat down to do the devotion tonight, I did not know which personal experience to share. Actually, I rarely know what story to use right off the bat. When I start the devotions, the scriptures I am to use almost always come first. One or more of them pop out at me during my normal Bible
reading. Then I pray for direction as to what story and which supporting scriptures should be included. As I read how David did not get to build the temple, and even more significantly, how Moses did not get to lead the Israelites into the promised land after having led them for so many years, my book came to mind. I certainly do not compare with King David or Moses, but we do have one thing in common. We all know what it means to have an unfulfilled dream that is very important to us.
In a way, Moses and David did have a part in seeing their dreams fulfilled. Moses encouraged and strengthened Joshua. That was important. David equipped Solomon. That was significant. The desires initially birthed in their hearts were in there with good reason, just as the Lord had good reason to
assign the projects to someone else instead. In David’s case, it was because he was a man of war. He would be able to contribute supplies to the builder rather than building the temple himself. In Moses’ life, losing that privilege was a consequence of robbing God of glory. He was allowed to see the promise
in the distance and to encourage and strengthen Joshua. They humbled themselves and did what they could to see the Lord’s glorious plan come about because they loved the Lord more than the plan.
Like Moses, I was guilty of robbing God of glory, but the pandemic was used to awaken urgency in my heart to see the Lord honored and people saved. I still desire to have the book published but it is far more important to me now to point people to Jesus with or without using my hand. I have started to
promote the Christian works of others by sharing their sermons, devotions, podcasts, etc. It feels good to have a small part in magnifying the Lord and in seeing the dreams of others fulfilled. After all, I want people to take a closer look at God even if I am not the one shining the light. Don’t you?