1 Chronicles 22-24

"'But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'

'Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would. May the LORD give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.'"

In this passage, David is telling Solomon what God has revealed to him. God did not want David to build his temple, but gave Solomon the blessing to do so instead.

This is an encouraging passage, because it reminded me of how God perfects our faith. David did not say to Solomon, "Okay, since God already told me that he want you to build his temple and you have his blessing, you can do whatever you want with your life. What God said will happen shall happen no matter how you act."

David told Solomon that he would still have to do his part and obey God. He didn't use the word "will" but used "may". "May you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would." David could have said "you will have success" but he didn't, because that's not how God works. He told Solomon that you will have success only if you obey God's command and follow in his ways.

Sometimes I wish that I can just be a puppet of God so I can't make any mistakes on my own. God will just control my every move and my every thought. He should do that to all people so there would be no evil in this world. But God didn't design us that way. He gave us the ability to make choices. And it's because of this that he is able to teach us to trust and have faith in him. He wants us to learn how to choose to follow him in all things.

God promised Solomon that, "He will be my son, and I will be his father." What's great is that we were given that same promise through Christ Jesus. We have, also, received a great blessing from our heavenly Father. And we will have success. We just need to do our part and choose him in all things.

As David said to Solomon, let us not be afraid or discouraged. For we have Jesus that loves us and is willing to teach us, and he is truly the perfecter of our faith :)