When everything slows down and we look around at the blessings we have, gratitude often wakes up our initiative. We feel blessed, secure, and at rest. When we do, something in us wants to do something for God in return. Now, that feeling isn't wrong. It's often a prompting of the Spirit. But it can also move us from thanksgiving to assumption.
King David looked at his cedar palace and assumed that God must have wanted something similar, and he was the one who was meant to build it. The faith lesson isn't that he had bad intentions. Good intentions say, "This seems right." And, sometimes, that's the best way we know to move forward. But, when we learn to be still before God, another question emerges: "Has God actually asked for this?"
That question matters because many of us stay busy for God because stillness feels unfaithful. Waiting can feel like wasted time. But Scripture reminds us that obedience isn’t measured by activity. It's measured by fruit and by faithfulness. God does not need our busyness as much as God desires our trust.
God will say no to David's idea, not because it was wrong. But because God had a larger promise unfolding, one that David could not yet see. God’s no set up a yes that would come later, through another generation, in another way.
Now, I'm someone who leans toward action. I've had to learn to hold even holy ideas with patience. To listen before launching. To pray before building because God’s presence has never depended on our structures or our ideas.
So, today, ask not only what you want to do for God, but what God is asking of you right now. Sometimes the most faithful response to grace is not action, but attention. And in that listening, we discover that God is already at work.
Stay blessed...john | 
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