I Chronicles 22:11 Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.
Not long ago our summer staff arrived for training at the Bill Rice Ranch. This is an exciting time, and we are thankful for the staff God has sent our way. There is a lot of excitement and nervousness the first couple of days. As the taillights of Dad and Mom’s Buick fade, there is a long corridor of unknowns for the people who come as summer staff. What job will they have? Will they be adequate? Will they be up to the task?
I remember every time I took on a new job at the Ranch, whether dining hall, horses, counselor, or whatever, I would think, “Wow, I always remember big kids doing this job. Well, I guess I am a big kid. I guess I am a man.” There is a passing of the torch. It occurred to me the other day that your whole life is a passing of the torch, whether the torch is being past to you or from you.
In I Chronicles 22 the taillights of King David were dimming in the distance, and Solomon, his son, had a huge task ahead of him as the new king. The Bible gives us the account of David’s charge to Solomon, who would build the temple that David himself had so greatly yearned to build. Solomon was a young man of peace, while David had been a man of war. Solomon was yet untested.
So, what does David say? Well, here is a refrain you find in the words of David to Solomon, “Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.” In verse 16 he says, “Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.” In verse 18, David said to the princes who would help Solomon, “Is not the LORD your God with you?” The refrain is, “I am leaving. I will not be here, but God isn’t going anywhere.”
I would like to encourage you, look for Him today. As David spoke to the princes he said, “Hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.” David is saying that these things were not just happenstance. They did not just happen. God was in them. God is the One Who was guiding and providing all along.
It is so easy for me to either pass along a torch to someone else or have another’s torch passed to me and miss all that God has been doing, to just chalk it up to sheer chance. I am not suggesting we see things that aren’t there. I am suggesting we open our eyes to things that are.
Perhaps today you find yourself in a new season, a new job, a new circumstance, or in over your head. Remember, as David told Solomon, God isn’t going anywhere. You just need to seek the Lord your God. Look for Him today.