We Are Part of God’s Plan, But We Are Not The Plan

We are not God’s plan, we are a part of it. We are baton-passers! And while we might think that God owes us everything we want to do for him in this life, there is something far more important and much more satisfying that we should seek to do: in our leg of the race, run strongly and pass the baton well. Ultimately, when we do that well, God wins—and that is our best victory!

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Kings 5:3-5,29-34

“My father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord his God because of the many wars waged against him by surrounding nations. He could not build until the Lord gave him victory over all his enemies. But now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well. So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. For the Lord told him, ‘Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.’”

Of course, we are the apple of God’s eye. (Psalm 17:8) Of course, God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us—a paraphrase of St. Augustine, who wrote, “You are good and all-powerful, caring for each one of us as though the only one in your care.” Of course, God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, cares for even the minute details of what we want and need (Matthew 6:25-34) and unleashes his power in us “to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” (Ephesians 3:20)

Yes, those are true, and then some! God is a gracious, generous Father to those who call on his name and live according to his Word and have accepted his Son by faith as Savior and Lord. And that is more than we deserve by a million miles and infinitely beyond what we can absorb.

Yet it is important that you keep all of these wonderful realities of belonging to God as his favored child in the right perspective. Me, too! We are not the be all to end all of God’s plan for the ages. We are a part of God’s plan, but we are not the plan. Why is that important to know? I will get to that in a moment, but first, let’s root that thought in what Solomon said in the passage above.

Solomon was now firmly established as king over Israel, and his reign was considered as the Golden Age of Israel. The nation had expanded its borders, power, wealth, and influence, and now it was at peace. No other country wanted to take them on; every king wanted to be Solomon’s friend. That included a good man by the name of King Hiram, who reigned in Lebanon. He had been a friend to Solomon’s father, King David. Now Hiram sent Solomon a message of congratulations through his ambassadors (I Kings 5:1) and Solomon responded with a request for lumber from the forests of Lebanon to build the temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to use beams and paneling from the famed cedars in Hiram’s forests. Ultimately, Hiram became a key partner in the architectural wonder that Jerusalem became under Solomon’s rule. (1 Kings 5:10,12, 18, 1 Kings 9:14, 27, 1 Kings 10:11, 22)

But Solomon said something very insightful in his initial response to Hiram’s congratulatory message that we would be wise to understand and apply to our own hopes, dreams and plans:

My father, David, could not build until the Lord gave him victory over all his enemies. But now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well. So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. (1 Kings 5:3-5)

David desperately wanted to build the temple in Jerusalem out of his deep love for God and gratitude for all that he had done. But God said no. It would be David’s son who would build it. He had other important assignments for David, but building a beautiful temple wasn’t one of them. You see, the temple wasn’t about David; it was about God. And God’s sovereign plan would be fulfilled over time, after David’s life had ended. What God assigned David in his lifetime would lead to what God would assign Solomon in his lifetime. David had a race to run, and when he finished it, it wasn’t the finish line, it was a baton pass to Solomon, who, as he got to the end of his leg of the race, would then pass it to his son.

How is this important for us? Simply this: We are not God’s plan, we are a part of it. We are baton-passers! And while we might think that God owes us everything we want to do for him in this life, there is something far more important and much more satisfying that we should seek to do: in our leg of the race, run strongly and pass the baton well, because the Kingdom of God is built and advanced over the millennia.

Our culture has conditioned us to think it all must happen now; that we are the “be all to end all.” We are not. There is something far better: to be a part of what will be celebrated without end in the eternal kingdom. So as you think about what you want from God, or want to do for God, remember that the Father who holds you as the apple of his eye has called you to run your leg of the race in such a way that you can give the runner who will take the baton from you a “leg up” in his or her part of the race.

Ultimately, when we run strongly and pass the baton well, God wins—and that is our best victory!