Don’t Settle for Good; Go for God
If your life is anything like mine, you may not find yourself having much time to process everything that happens to you. Perhaps you’re running children to events or picking them up from school. For parents with children still living in the house, the month of May is an extremely busy time. School is ending. There are end of the year performances, testing, teacher gifts, etc., etc. And then, all of a sudden summer hits and you’re looking for things to do!
Every now and then things slow down enough to where I have a few hours to process my life. This is a dangerous period. It is refreshing. It is needed. But it’s dangerous.
Why is it dangerous? Because it’s in these times of refreshing that we often think of changes that need to be made. It’s in these times of processing that we think of new ideas and new rhythms that need to come about.
King David found himself in one of these situations. After his kingdom had been solidified, the Bible says that God gave him “rest from his enemies.” In other words, David had time to process. He had time to contemplate. He had time to figure out what needed to change. Look:
“Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.' And Nathan said to the king, ‘Go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.’” (2 Samuel 7:1-3).
No doubt David looked around at all the false gods of the area and saw their beautiful and ornate shrines. But the real God, the God of the Bible, His glory? It was dwelling in an ark in a tent. He deserves better! And all of God’s people would have said, “Amen!”
But…that was not God’s plan. A good idea is not always a God idea. God spoke to the prophet Nathan that night and essentially told him, “Go tell David that’s not my plan for him. I don’t need a house. He doesn’t need to build me a house. In fact, I’m going to make him a house. And his lineage will never end.”
David, an unknown shepherd, was chosen by God to be the King of Israel. Through David’s line, Jesus Christ would come to the world. And through Jesus, God’s plan of salvation would be enacted and subsequently bless the entire world as all who trust in Jesus would have their sins forgiven and be made right with God. That was God’s plan for David’s life: you’ll be a king who will bless Israel and bless the world…not to simply build a house.
See, God was just getting started in David’s life, even though he was in his early 40s at this point. And that’s the reason for my writing this commentary. You are not called to be the next King of Israel (or England for that matter). But you do have a specific calling by God in your life. And none of us know just how that will end.
Oftentimes we get these ideas and we think, “If this happens, that’ll be great!” But, if God’s not in that idea…it won’t be great. It may be good…but not great. Building a house for God would have been neat. But it would not have blessed the entire nation of Israel. In fact, it would have been a burden. And it certainly wouldn’t have blessed the entire world.
No matter your mental state today, I want you to realize that whether you’re 20, 40, or 80 years old…if you’re alive today…God is not finished with you. When you take time to contemplate your life, make sure that any good idea that pops up is a God idea. Take it to him in prayer. Look at Scripture for confirmation, if applicable. And ask him to allow you to be a part of something He’s doing…not just something you’re doing. Don’t settle for good. Go for God.
