Donna and David

I was in a mood. The past and future were colliding with the present in my head as my body worked around the early morning tasks in my world. It’s a lovely world full of chaos right now.  I don’t do chaos well and yet of late it seems that I do chaos always.

Sometimes I just have to stop and say I have much good in my life. It didn't turn out the way I planned, for sure. Some things really don't matter and some seem like they do, but in reality it didn't go that way and it's a good, good life. This is a time to say "yeah, it's okay." 
When you say it at first it feels like you're just settling. But if you stop and look about and listen to your spirit, you know you're not just accepting the inevitable, you're walking out in belief, trust, and joy for what you have, not mourning what didn't happen. This is when God truly gives us joy for mourning.

In such a mood, I came to my morning quiet time in 2Samuel 7. There came a time when David didn't have any challenges. His enemies were no longer fighting him; his Palace was complete. He had erected a tent for the Ark, but his heart constructed an amazing temple to honor the presence of God among his people.  There are things in the story that lead me to believe that David had a vision of the temple. The prophet said "go for it." But in the night he received a word from God. Sometimes our excitement at an idea can keep us from hearing God. Perhaps it's because Nathan didn't take time to ask God. Neither did David apparently. Or perhaps David believed his vision was God's instruction.
God's love didn't allow David to begin a vision he hadn't birthed. God sent the word to his prophet Nathan. I asked myself “Why did God not speak directly to David?” David was a man who was accustomed to hearing from God. It appears we have turned a page without a period. We start a new chapter on an unfinished note. There is much to consider some of it is not given to us. Perhaps it is not important to the story, but perhaps it is for those who will dig it out.
David had a plan. David loved God. David was God's king for his people. But "My plans are not your plans," says God. It's very easy to get lost in a good plan, a wonderful plan, the plan of the heart. When it just isn't going to happen, we mourn the plan even though it really never was our reality, it was just a plan. But it's saddens me when that good wonderful thing that I thought I got from God really wasn't from God and therefore had no life. This may sound a bit crazy, but these are the hardest times to just trust and walk on. I wonder if it was that way for David after God sent Nathan back to tell him he was not going to build a temple.
God's message to David from Nathan: "Are you the one to build me a house?" Sometimes God may give a vision that is true but not necessarily for us to accomplish. I have wondered if this was the case with David.
"I've been right there in the middle of Israel since I brought them out of Egypt." We can get so wrapped up in our ideas that we think it is the only thing that God can and will honor.
" I took you from a pasture, I was with you the whole way, and I have made you a great king." God's expectations for David was not about what David could do for him, but about what he would do for David.
"When your days are over, your heir will complete your vision."
Though this statement has a finality in David desire to build the temple, it also provides a promise and a hope for the future of the nation and for David's line.
"My love will never be taken away. Your house and Kingdom will endure forever. Your throne will be established forever." God promised to be a father to David's son. He said “if he does wrong I will punish him using the rod of men, but I won't take my love or my promise away. My purpose will stand for your family into the generations ahead.” If we accept that God is eternal and knows all things past and future, secret and open, then we understand the longevity and the power of grace in this statement to David. Goodness and faithfulness come from God not from men. How can I ever be disappointed with such Amazing Grace?