This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network |
When my husband and our family moved to the little town of Seminole, Texas (population 6,000) in 1999, we had no idea what all God had planned for us as pastors of a small church, but we decided early that God could do BIG things in small places.
Over the past 20-plus years, I’d say the number one thing we learned was how to build—first, people, then actual buildings to hold the people.
I remember one time when a ministry friend was visiting again after we had completed a new sanctuary. They commented on how much God had done since the last time they were with us, and I realized how different our perspective was from theirs—we had simply taken on the role of managing what God was doing. There was nothing we could claim as our own (nor did we want to).
God is the one who establishes His house. But He loves it when we care about it.
“Now it came to pass when [King David] was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.’ Then Nathan said to the king, ‘Go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you’” (2 Samuel 7:1-3).
In those days, God’s presence was with the ark of the covenant. And it hit King David that he lived in a luxurious home, but God not only lived in an ark, but the ark was in a tent. And this bothered him.
What I love about this story is God’s response. He spoke to Nathan through a dream and basically said, “Have I ever asked anyone to build Me a house?” In other words, God had been so content to abide in the ark that He never required more than that — why? Because God builds man… man doesn’t build God.
But still, God was impressed that David’s heart wanted to provide a better (natural) home for Him.
As the story continues, we find that God said He would allow David’s son to build a house for His name, but promises as well that because of David’s desire, He would establish his house and kingdom forever (verse 16).
Now fast forward to our day — God is still building houses for Himself, but it’s not just the brick and mortar or wood of church buildings.
You and I are the house of God.
“Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5, Good News Translation).
Brick, mortar, wood, and sheetrock can all be destroyed, but YOU, as God’s spiritual temple, are more valuable than all the buildings in the world devised by man. The world has many monuments still standing today, erected to honor God, but none of them honor Him more than the heart He has chosen to be His home.
And when you care about THAT home (your heart) more than you do anything external, God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, will establish your life and family forever too.
I pray that your heart will desire as David did, to make a beautiful home for our worthy God.
