Our current series at
Victory Fort entitled "LEAD" has simply been revolutionary. We have been learning leadership lessons from the life of David. We've looked at David and Goliath, David and Saul, and David and Nathan. These would be available in
podcast version in our website. This coming Sunday, we'll gather lessons from David and Solomon.
David wanted to build a temple for God. His intentions were absolutely noble.
“Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” (2 Samuel 7:2) While it was such a good idea, God sends Nathan to tell David that it wasn't His plan for him to build it but his son, Solomon will.
A few lessons I got from this story:
1. When God says 'no', it's not a rejection but a redirection.David wanted to build God's house but God said 'no'.
He had noble intentions and it wasn't for his own glory but still, God said 'no'.
When God tells you 'no', that only means he is redirecting you to something bigger and better. It's not a rejection, just simply a redirection.
2. When God says 'no', our response is critical.
How David responded was phenomenal - worship!
"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD..." (2 Samuel 7:18)
What a response! It shows the heart of a man that is after God's own heart.
“Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 2Samuel 7:18
He then counts his blessings and opens up a heart that is grateful to what God already has done.
When God says 'no', how do we respond? I pray that I can be like David - that I would respond in humility and obedience.
3. When God says 'no', we can set someone else up for success.
David found out he wasn't going to build his dream project. What was his next step? Hold on to the baton as long as he can? Become critical? Try to negotiate with God? Become apathetic about the dream because he won't be the big shot anyway?
"David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.”
So David made extensive preparations before his death. 1Chronicles 22:5
He made preparations to pass the baton to his son. His dream project was going to be accomplished by his son... and he had no problems with it.
Quick lesson here: Not everyone is called to build temples, but we are all called to build the next generation.
Let us set up the next generation to succeed. Apathy will set them up to fail. But if we just have David's attitude, we will see the next generation succeed.
See you this weekend.
Life is not a 100-yard dash,, it's a relay! 
