I read this passage last night and got something different from what I’d gotten before. I had always just read it as history, but didn’t see the application to us today.

For You, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You. Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant. Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord God, have spoken; and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.” (2 Samuel 7:27-29) {emphasis mine}

God spoke to David. He promised blessings to Israel and the house of David. He revealed His future plans. Because of these revelations, David “found courage to pray this prayer to You.”

Because God promised blessings, David could pray for blessings. Because God promised good things, David could pray for good things. Because God was faithful to fulfill past promises, He could be trusted to fulfill future promises.

Knowing God’s word gives us the faith and ability to draw close and ask our Father for blessings in hard times. This doesn’t mean that every little request will be given in the way we desire, but it does mean we can have faith that our requests, when aligned with His revealed will and plan, will be answered in the best way possible. We can know that we aren’t just throwing requests up in the air. God hears us. God loves us. God wants good things for us.

The complication that can make us think God isn’t listening is that God has an eternal perspective. God is outside of time. He sees all of time. He has an eternal perspective. He knows what is best for us eternally, which frequently is not what is easiest or most fun in the moment. God is preparing us for eternity with Him. Sometimes that preparation can be painful or scary, but if we rest our faith on the Word of God, we can know that He is faithful in all things.

When I think about how God prepares us for eternity with Him, I think of how I prepared my sons for life. Toddlers don’t initially understand how they can fall from a height. They might crawl up to a cliff and crawl right off, not understanding the consequences. A fall from a cliff can kill, therefore, I orchestrated situations where they could fall safely. I let them fall off a single step or maybe three steps. This was scary. They may have gotten a little bruise, but they weren’t going to be seriously injured. They did, however, learn to be careful of heights. They didn’t want to fall off anything. I allowed them to fail, have a very minor injury, or get scared, so they would learn skills that would keep them safe from serious harm.

I think God does likewise. He allows us to go through hardships that train us to rely on Him. They train us to have faith. They train us to have peace and joy in God and not in our circumstances. These circumstances can be quite hard and even heartbreaking, but if we know who God is and His promises, we can navigate these hard times and exit them with more faith in God and a closer relationship to Him. We can learn to have peace and joy despite our circumstances because we have God, and we know that God and righteousness win in the end.

May God grow your knowledge of Him through the Bible, so you can have an enduring faith in God. May you grow so close to God that you see Him and not your circumstances, and so you may have peace and joy even in the most horrible circumstances. May your faith, peace, and joy draw unbelievers to the Savior.

Trust Jesus

If you do not yet know Jesus, I beg you to trust in Him. Below are some verses that will tell you what you need to know to be saved. If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them. Just message me on Substack.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

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But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

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that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (Romans 10:9)

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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:9-10)

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For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

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He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

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But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.

All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.