And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.
- 2 Chronicles 1:1
Why was Solomon strengthened in his kingdom? The answer is, the Lord was with him, but he was also with the Lord. At this stage in Solomon's life, both he and the Lord were on the same pathway; Solomon was building the kingdom of Israel, and God saw it coming to pass: the same kingdom from two perspectives.
When we commit ourselves to the building of God's kingdom, God strengthens us. He also wants to see our building built. He is keener than you or I to see us succeed. However, we will only succeed if we do it his way.
Solomon, in his mid-life, lost his spiritual direction, getting tangled up in day-to-day activities which lured him away from God. He still thought he was fine. Many of us have done the same. It wasn't until he realised he was going in the wrong direction and reversed it, that his life started coming back on track, and he was able to say, "all is vanity" and "there is nothing new under the sun".(Ecclesiastes 1)
We must come to that same realisation, that many of our activities in life are simply vanity, and there is nothing new under the sun — that much of life in each era is a repeat of previous periods with different people in the starring roles. Ignore fancy headstones and epitaph's, believers' parts in this life are defined by what we do with and for God, and that we can't be strengthened in our kingdom until we work according to his blueprint.
Today's Prayer: Dear Lord, thanks for informing us that there is nothing new under the sun. Much of my life, I spent learning new things, but they were only new to me. Please help me to genuinely realise the real reason I am on this earth, align my work with yours, remove every veil from my eyes, and strengthen me in the building of your kingdom in my life.
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