Promises and prayers. These two words kind of sum up the chapter I read in the Bible this morning. In 1st Chronicles 17, King David has a desire to build a temple for the Lord. "Why should I live in a beautiful palace, " he says, "while the Lord my God is worshipped in a simple tent?"
If you remember the story, God sent a prophet to bring David words of promise and encouragement, and David responds to God with a prayer of trust and commitment. The interesting thing about the story, however, is that what David originally wanted to do (build a temple for God) was not what God gave him promises about.
The Lord saw David's heart and honoured him for his motivation to do something special for God, but David was not to be the person who would build the temple. God's promises to David were something different… and David chose to embrace that different future.
It's so important for us to know - to find out and embrace - what God is promising us, so that we don't live our lives with regret for the "thing that didn't work out," but are able instead to embrace the future that God does have for us.
What promises is God giving you, for 2014 and beyond?
