The dream and the reality

Here we go for another try. I have dismally failed on this portion on my New Year's resolution, but I'm picking it up again. Pushing through to the inspiration and determination. Let it be so.

I've been reading the stories of Samuel and the first kings of Israel recently. In my journey, Israel has just made the transition from King David to King Solomon. One of the interesting points I picked up on this time through these chapters is the dream of building the temple.

David is the one who had the dream, the goal, the vision for the temple. He looked at his palace and realized how lovely it was and that the ark of the covenant was sitting in a tent. He started to make the plans and then God said, "Thank you so much for wanting to build this for me, but this isn't your job. Your son is going to build a temple for me."

Years later Solomon, having become incredibly wealthy and wise, remembered his father's vision and God's promise that David's son would build the temple. He picked up the dream and made it a reality. The description of the temple is awe-inspiring. The hundreds of bronze pomegranates, the altar, the 15 foot cherubim! God's house was amazing.

But I wonder, what if David hadn't had the dream in the first place. Would Solomon have built the temple without the dream of his father?

This makes me wonder if there are dreams I have that aren't for me to fulfill or what am I fulfilling that had their start in the dreams of others? We're definitely supposed to have dream and goals that we have and carry out, but sometimes maybe we are just the dream carrier, the dream conveyor and someone else carries out the dream and makes it reality.

David and Solomon's temple building story makes me wonder how many other times God has used someone as the dream sparker and another to carry out the plan.