Jump Start # 1081

1 Chronicles 22:7-8 “David said to Solomon, ‘My son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me.’”

Our verse is about King David. He is old and beginning the process of passing the torch on to Solomon, his son, to be the next king of Israel. David’s heart was loyal to God. He had made Jerusalem the center and capital of the nation. The king’s palace was there. The city had walls for protection. Yet the focus of worship remained within the tabernacle—the mobile, tent structure first established in the wilderness in the Moses years. David wanted to give God something better, something permanent. The temple was planned. David intended to build it. God said ‘No.’ David wasn’t the one. Solomon would build it. The temple became the most beautiful building in Jerusalem. David gathered workers, supplies and all the necessary steps, so the process for Solomon would be very smooth. Solomon’s temple served Israel until the Babylonians sacked it around 587 B.C.

There are some lessons for us:

1. Some of our dreams are unfulfilled. This is especially true as one gets older. Age, finances, limitations often make a person realize that the dreams of youth are not going to come about. Sometimes the dreams of our youth do not seem as important when we are older. Things change. Priorities change. A young person wants to travel and see the world. The older that person becomes, the more he just wants to stay home. This is true with many of our dreams and goals.

Spiritually, some of our goals may not be realized. Some may have had the goal of serving as a shepherd in a congregation. Things happened along the way and now that is not going to be a reality. Some had the dream of preaching and that didn’t pan out. We all have dreams that were not fulfilled.

2. God sometimes says ’No.’ He did to David. In the book of Acts, Paul wanted to go to Asia to preach and the Holy Spirit refused to allow that to happen. God said ’no.’ Crushed dreams. No instead of a yes. Those things can come to a young couple who want a baby, but find out that they cannot have one. It can come in the form of closed doors and opportunities that never come. We want ’yes,’ and God says ’No.’ “Thy will be done,” is hard to swallow when Thy will does not line up with our will. Thy will may be completely opposite of what we want and pray for. Thy will may take us a different direction. Even noble intentions such as building a Temple for God, or preaching in Asia, can be rejected by God.

How we respond and react to these things reveal our character and our faith. Someone the other day gave me a picture of myself when I was 22 years old. It was at a farewell party. I had finished working with a church in a training program and was soon to start off preaching on my own. I was given a briefcase as a present. Tall, skinny, single and full of thoughts about what I was going to do. Now, 34 years later, no longer a kid, but having four kids who are older than the guy in the picture, life has taken me places that I never dreamed of. Some of those dreams and goals of that 22 year old guy in the picture never came about. Most of them have long been forgotten. They have been replaced with better goals, more realistic dreams, and things thought out.

A person can live their life being disappointed. There is an old Harry Chapin song called, ’Taxi’ where he picks up a woman for a taxi ride. They recognize each other and remember their dreams of long ago. He was going to be a pilot and she was going to be an actress. Now, he’s just driving his taxi. We can spend too much time regretting what never came about. The “I was going to be,” is a song that no one wants to hear.

A person can be bitter because of failed dreams. They can feel chained to kids, work, aging parents and never feel like they got to do what they wanted to in life. This leads a person to resent others. They resent the kids. They resent a marriage that took away dreams. They resent their life and envy those who are doing what they never could. Bitterness comes from resentment. Misery follows. A person who is like this isn’t happy and content. There is a volcano brewing on the inside. It will erupt some day. It will be messy and generally, ugly things will spew forth.

From our passage we learn that David couldn’t build the Temple, but he did other things and mostly he built a son who would build that temple. As a person ages, the experiences of life can polish and change you. As faith grows within you, priorities change.  You replace the dreams of youth with mature, seasoned, and spiritual goals and dreams. You have better goals, deeper dreams that are driven by Scriptures.

We learn, especially from Paul, that when God said ‘No’ to Asia, he didn’t quit. There was another plan, another place and another direction God wanted him to go. Don’t fight God. Don’t quit because dreams do not become fulfilled. Don’t try to push God out of the throne. He knows what’s best. He sees things that we don’t.

So things didn’t work out for you to serve as a shepherd in the congregation. Can you do other things? Can you be one of the best members? Can you be that bright spot that encourages others? Can you be an incredible teacher? Can you find ways to help others serve? Don’t give up because your dream didn’t come about.

So you can’t have children. Can you adopt? Can you be that person in the neighborhood that all the kids adore? Can you be the adoptive parent to all the kids at church? Can you volunteer at the local library to read stories to kids? Can you teach kid’s classes at church? Don’t give up because your dream didn’t come about.

So you can’t travel overseas and preach. Can you find those that do and encourage them? Can you help them financially? Can you get names of foreign preachers and write them. I’ve done that for 30 years. There are books you can send to them. There is friendships you can form this way. Don’t give up because your dream didn’t come about.

David couldn’t build the temple. He helped the one who would. Paul couldn’t preach in Asia. He preached in other places. What about your dreams? What about your hopes? Don’t live in the past. Don’t live defeated. Don’t blame others. Live your life in the sunshine of today. Serve the Lord the best you can today. Continue to dream, plan and make goals.

An old sermon I used to preach everywhere, “Bloom where you are planted.” In our new place where we now live, there are all kinds of spring flowers popping up. Behind us is woods. In the woods, there are spring flowers popping up. The seeds from one year blew into the woods. Now the flowers are blooming where they are planted. That is some of us. It’s not where we intended to be, but here we are. Bloom where you are planted. Keep blooming. Keep dreaming. Keep serving the Lord.

Roger