Friday, December 20, 2019
Surprises Are Not Always Appreciated 
by Paul Gresham
18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears..        

-- 2 Samuel 7:18-22
When our youngest granddaughter, Julia, was five, her grandmother found a beautiful music box to give her for Christmas. It was made of wood, lit up when it played music, had a carousel horse inside which rotated, and had many different discs which played Christmas music, show tunes, and classical music.

On Christmas eve when Julia opened the present from her grandmother, she was not pleasantly surprised and immediately said, "I never wanted this," as she pushed the music box aside and opened another present. However, a few minutes later, she noticed her younger cousin had become interested in the music box and she told him in no uncertain terms that the music box was hers not his. By Christmas morning, Julia had decided that the music box was the best Christmas present ever and properly thanked her grandmother.

I am certain that David, like Julia, was not pleasantly surprised when God sent the prophet Nathan to him to tell him that God's plan for the building of God's temple was different from David's plan. God had chosen David's son to succeed him after David had died and would establish his kingdom and his son would build the temple. Even though he must have been disappointed, he praised God and said, " For the sake of your word and according to your great will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant ."
Prayer: 
Sovereign Lord we know that sometimes your plans for us are not always what we would have planned for ourselves, but help us to appreciate that you know what is best for us and make us thankful for all that you give us. Amen.
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