David also said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.’
Two weeks of workload then a truckload more for another five. It was breath-taking, literally. The two big projects collided last weekend, exploding on me. One was groundbreaking, the other one with sixteen leaders under me. Add to that the coming of my mom for the week which means, I’m on-call on the side. It would have been easier, maybe, if it’s all paperwork. But with people? It’s 24/7 performance level. Coming home last night from our prayer meeting, and a ladies bible study on prayer hours before that, I slouched on the sofa declaring it a day. I was close to crying so I grabbed my Bible, seeking for solace. I flipped it to the bookmarked page then scanned two verses up just for an immediate context. Just two verses. But I know it was God speaking to me – undeniably. For every word met my every need.
The story here was David giving his heir all the plans and blueprint for the temple that God had put in his mind. To us now knowing it was the magnificent temple in Mount Zion he’s talking about, the one recorded as one of the seven wonders in 6th century according to Gregory, Bishop of Tours, we can imagine Solomon so overwhelmed with the humongous task ahead of him. Written there was a quarry site with tens of thousands labor workers, also foreign suppliers to deal with. And that’s just the building project. There’s still the priests and Levites preparing for the grand launch, and beyond. Sitting there listening to his father, young and inexperienced, I can imagine fears trying to creep in. David hearing loud throbs in his son’s heart, feeling for him, gave him two verses to quiet him down. Just two. But it saw him through ‘til the project’s completion.
Here’s a peek of my time with the Father last night. To my tired body, He said ‘Be strong’; To any temptation-attempt to pull me out and just give up, God said “Do the work’; To my pounding heart, He commanded ‘Do not be afraid’; Though not yet, but might soon be, His warning, ‘Do not be discouraged’; To assure me more, He pointed ‘I am the God of David: the giant slayer’. Then more words, ‘I will not fail you or forsake you’; To the big task ahead of me, with leaders under me, He specified, ‘Your people are ready for all the work’; To my desire for excellence, His provision: ‘They are skilled in their crafts’; and, to my fear that I might not be the best person for them, He whispered: ‘They are willing. They will help you. They will obey your every command’. It was the sweetest embrace He knew I needed last night. Every word a fresh wind to my fluctuating soul. In His faithfulness, He turned by sobs into song, and I’m still singing it now: ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!
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