When you discovered that Jesus is worth everything, you surrendered all. You became his blank check. You would go anywhere and do anything to bring him glory.
You began to dream holy dreams. You glimpsed yourself serving, preaching, leading, going. The dream inhabited your soul. You waited and kept waiting. You sat in the lowest seat, expecting to be called to a higher one. He didn’t need you — you knew that — but still you kept yourself ready, just in case.
You just knew something was coming. You could feel it. You were convinced God put you on this planet to pastor a flock, bring the gospel overseas, mother a houseful of godly children. Your eyes of faith could see it — you still swear you saw it. It was only a matter of God’s timing.
But that time never came. The dream died. The mountains stood unmoved. The church never called back; your future husband lived and died in that word “future.” How were you so mistaken? Did you do something wrong?
How cruel to have ever dreamed. Better to cherish no high desires, no noble ambitions than this: failure, embarrassment, waste. If only you tripped down a single step instead of falling from the stars.
For all who have brought their dreams to the King and heard the thud of his “No,” have you also heard of his heart toward you as you sought to live for him?
Desire Expressed
David wanted to do a great thing for the Lord. He had done great things but planned to do something greater.
The king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Samuel 7:2–3)
The man after God’s heart could not relax. What? Dwell in a house of cedar while God’s ark dwells in a tent? Should David live in a finer house than his King, his Joy, his Life? The thought sickened him. He would build a house worthy of the Lord.
Nathan approved, as did the Scriptures. Hadn’t Moses foretold of this time? “You shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there” (Deuteronomy 12:5). God promised to make his residence in the land; David resolved to build that dwelling. He believed he had been given the honor of a lifetime.
Desire Denied
But later that night, God gave David a hard answer, an answer it may have taken you years to discover: No. Nathan’s confirmation had sounded to him like music; now this word ended the matter. His hope of many years died.
Has the Lord denied you your life’s request? Has the sudden shift from a seeming yes to a definite no given you whiplash? Or has the door taken seasons to close? Time finally turned the deadbolt.
Whatever good God has taught you to want, whatever secret plans you have prayed for, whatever valiant mission you have prepared for since becoming a Christian — God has said no. David doesn’t seem to know why at first, but later God tells him: He had too much blood on his hands (1 Chronicles 22:7–10). He was unfit to perform the work he ached to do.
Desire Commended
Whatever God’s perfect reason for denying our greater service, the question remains: What good was it to hope? Did it do anything but disappoint? Are failed desires worth having? David’s story answers yes, with two reasons given.
First, failed desires present an opportunity for the Lord to magnify his steadfast love.
God sends his noes with gifts.
God answers David’s desire by keeping the denied blessing in David’s line — David will not build the temple, but Solomon will. And while David waits, the Lord promises David that he will make David a house. Examine its architecture: “The Lord will make you a house. . . . And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:11, 16). David is silenced into surrender.
This is our God. He denies us beautiful opportunities to bless him, but then he takes the opportunity to beautifully bless us. And he silences us into surrender. He says that he will build us a house, that we are more to him than what we produce. In Christ, we could not be more loved, not even if we had converted continents, preached revivals, or birthed children of faith more numerous than the stars.
If you have been stung by his no, sit quietly until you marvel at his everlasting yes.
Second, such noble purposes please the Lord, even when they fail.
I hope you get this. God told something else to David. Solomon reports:
Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to David my father, “Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.” (1 Kings 8:17–18)
Apply this balm to many unsuccessful kingdom endeavors: You did well that it was in your heart.
O dejected and despairing heart, you have done well in desiring great things that never came. The rest of the men spent their youth on video games; you spent it mapping out gospel-deprived lands you never set foot on. So many schemed to build wealth for themselves; you strategized how to plant Christ’s flag in your city. You wanted a household to raise godly offspring; you wanted to see an outpouring of the Spirit; you wanted to clothe the poor and rescue children from the slaughter — and God is satisfied though you fell short. You did well that it was in your heart.
Desire Redirected
Men and women with holy ambition will dream dreams. And those dreams are worth having, whether we ever live to see them fulfilled. O reader, do not evict such passions from your heart. They bless us, even if they fail.
Besides, such glowing coals need not fade from your heart. Observe how David responds. As he commissions Solomon to the work he longed for, he reports what became of his ambition: “I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver” (1 Chronicles 29:2). He did not give up; he gave all he could. He did not refuse to do much because he could not do all.
If you cannot have what you hoped, do not sit down in despair and allow the energies of your life to run to waste; but arise, and gird yourself to help others to achieve. If you may not build; you may gather materials for him that shall. If you may not go down the mine, you can hold the ropes. (F.B. Meyer, David, 95)
David redirected his resolve to the next generation. He would win best supporting actor. Isn’t this the test of the purity of our pursuits, that we can help others achieve our dream? David really loved the Lord. David really wished him to have his house. He didn’t have to be the one to build it. He did all he could for Solomon.
If you cannot go overseas, raise as much money as you can to support those who do. If you cannot be the lead pastor, hold up the arms of the man God brings. If you never marry, serve families as they raise children in the Lord. Dream big dreams of bringing him glory, labor with a whole heart for his kingdom, and gather materials for his name when he tells you no.
As you bring your gold and your silver, and you’re tempted to hang your head, know that your God is well pleased with what was in your heart.
Desiring God