Details
In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month,
the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications.
He had spent seven years building it.
1 Kings 6:38
My husband and I are enjoying a study, by a local pastor, on 1 Kings. This week we went to class but the pastor was absent, due to a death in the congregation. Eleven of us prayed together and then waded into the Word of the Old Testament. Chapter 6 is full of detailed instructions on how to build the temple. These elaborate architectural plans had been given to King David and then handed down to his son, Solomon, to carry out. As we finished reading that chapter, one young woman inquired as to the necessity of recording all those details for us to read. Our lay responses were varied...."God is a God of detail"...."We most remember the importance of obedience"...."If we were scholars we'd know that each detail has a deep meaning"... and then my lesson hit me.
It had to take David a LONG time to sit before the Lord and listen and record all those details. How often do we sit and listen to the details that God wants to give us for our day?
Facing an important decision in our lives years ago, I sat for eight days with notebook and Bible in hand and listened to the Lord. I have 22 pages (no where close to David, Noah, Moses or Abraham) of what I had heard. The details were amazing. Even longer ago, the Lord placed me face down on the floor and in 10 minutes gave me a page of specific instructions for a ministry we had called the Bible boat. Interestingly, both times these instructions were to carry out plans I absolutely did NOT want to do.
Why is it so hard to sit and listen? I am a college graduate and sat in class listening to teachers and professors for many years, but seldom sit and listen to God Almighty. Sitting and listening is different from studying the Word, going to Sunday School and church, tuning in online or on the radio. Those techniques all add to and often confirm what God is telling us, but at some point we need to be still and listen for the details. When it happens we realized the God of the universe is for REAL and ready for action in our day to day lives.
Check out I Kings 6
Here's an addendum.
After writing today I went to read in a series by Nancy Leigh DeMoss on the Song of Solomon. Today's entry was on learning to recognize God's voice and get away in quiet with him! I think that needs to be on the schedule for me today!
https://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/revive-our-hearts/unheeded-love-1-loving-laboratory-life/
