Suggested reading: 1 Chronicles 28

⁹ “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

1 Chronicles 28:9-10

Since my back-to-back promotion in the last 2-3 years, work has been SUPER TOUGH. There’s a lot that’s keeping me up at night these days – from stakeholder management (our executive leadership), driving change in the org (super hard), making teams you don’t have authority over accountable, dealing with difficult personalities, coaching my team members, reviewing peers work, protecting my reputation – there’s so much that could go wrong and a few already have.

There are plenty of times when I’ve questioned, “Did they hire the right leader in me?”

The reading today is very timely. God emphasizes to David that He has chosen Solomon to build him a sanctuary, and not David. So David hands over his plans to build a temple to his son, Solomon.

David then tells Solomon to be strong and do the work.

He also repeats this later in the chapter:

²⁰ David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

1 Chronicles 28:20

This is the reading I needed. I didn’t ask for this job or promotion. I was asked last year if I wanted it—of course, I did—but it wasn’t going to be easy.

Dear reader, if you feel like you’ve been given a task you’re not capable of, think about Solomon. Solomon was very young when he was made King. But what did Solomon do when he was made King? Solomon asked God for wisdom. Here’s Solomon’s prayer as found in 1 Kings 3.

⁷ “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

We need to seek God and ask for his wisdom. We need to be strong and courageous. But we must also equally do the work.

Today, we watched the Olympic Men’s Basketball between USA and France. The 4th quarter got intense in the last few minutes, where there was only 6pts difference between the teams. Out of nowhere, Stephen Curry throws four sets of back-to-back 3pt shots. Tell me if that is not extraordinary. He didn’t really perform prior to the semi-finals and finals. But he did in the moments that mattered for the team.

Curry could do it because he practised (did the work) but also put faith in God, as demonstrated by his finger-pointing-up mannerism after every shot he makes.

Happy Saturday!