I want to tell you a story about God.  It tells the story of two fathers.

The one father, when he was very young, decided he would do his absolute best to build a house for his children.

So he did several things:

He sacrificed his own comfort.   He became very determined about what he set out to do.  He made sure that everyone who worked for him would keep this goal in mind – “I need to build a house for my children, he would always say.”

He told everyone, that his children needed to be loyal, and his workers needed to be loyal.  He reminded anyone that got in the way of this loyalty, that they were resisting a plan that God had given to him – for so God had.  God was for this plan.

In time, God sent a prophet to confirm to everyone that this was His plan.  And the prophet was mighty, so everyone feared.

As time went by, several crucial things happened.  The plan given by God seemed to stall.  The father resolved to do his best to make things work.  If necessary, he would even sacrifice more than the original plan called for.  If necessary, he would even do some things himself, that were supposed to be done by others.  If necessary, he would even personally correct any and all mistakes.

The second father,  when he was very young, came to the conclusion that he also was to build a house for his children.

So he also did several things.  He began to practice the trades, the skills he would need to build a house.  At a certain point, he came across the first father, and he agreed to help him, since he was further along in his project, and the second father felt very much that the first was supposed to have his house built as the highest priority.  He even believed that this was the plan given by God.  He decided that he would help the first man, and that somehow, things would eventually work out the way they were supposed to.

With the passage of time, the first father became suspicious of the second.  He couldn’t refuse his help, the man was a great worker.  But he was so good that the workers all began to switch their loyalty to the second man.  The first father began to fear that his house, when finished, would be handed over to this upstart.  Consequently, he began to leave him out of the key work assignments.  He even talked behind his back.

Meanwhile the first father had some more problems.  He made a mistake that offended God, and jeopardized God’s plan.  In a key part of the work, he made up his mind to do something himself, that he should have left to a better qualified person.  Mysteriously, the powerful prophet showed up, and declared God’s will that someone else would eventually takeover leadership of the building and ownership of the house.  But the work continued, for the time being, with the first father in charge and in ownership.

Sadly, though, a similar problem to the first surfaced.  This time the first father disobeyed one of the details in God’s plan.  His problem of stepping outside of God’s plan was getting worse, and not better.  This time the mysterious prophet told him that God would remove the ability given to him man to lead and to guide the work on the house.

Unfortunately, the  first father refused to resign. He kept leading, and the work to build the house became confused and of poor quality.  There was even danger of the house collapsing and harming the children.

But the Second father continued to support the first.  He honored even orders that made his own life hard.  He honored the first father even when his personal safety was at stake.  He refused to complain or dishonor the first man – continuing to treat him  with respect.

Conclusion:

Now this is a true story.  It is contained in the Bible.  The first father is King Saul.  The Second Father is King David.  King Saul was called by God to build a house (Biblical word for dynasty) that would have setup his descendants , the children of Saul, as leaders in Israel forever.  But he disobeyed God on some very key occasions.

The prophet Samuel was sent to tell him, “Your kingdom will not endure, the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” ( 1 Sam. 13:14).

As a result, God chose a man, , the second father, King David.  A man who would obey God, and be considerate of God’s other servants.  David, who initially worked for Saul, was given leadership, and given the keys to the house.

Let me ask you, “What could Saul have done?”

Even  after he had repeatedly sinned, he could have repented.  He could have let God’s plan through David unfold.  If he had learned to  give over the whole plan to God, he could have gone out a hero — a man willing to step aside and mentor.  Someone interested in the greater overall good.

Who knows what God would have done, if Saul had only learned to obey.

But isn’t this the problem that all of us have?

We want to stay on the throne of our lives.  We fight to stay in charge.

The second father, David, was never in charge – God was in charge, and God even made room in the house of David for the Children of Saul – he could have made room for Saul!  Saul was called first.  Even after God had rejected him, the mercy of God could have found a place for Saul.  Even though Saul was not in the driver seat any longer, I have a hard time believing that his role would not have been even greater than David’s, had he repented.  God always has more for you.  And since Saul was called first to build the house, God would have honored him and found a glorious place for him, just as He did for Jonathan, son of Saul.

Let’s realize that it is almost never too late to change the things God dislikes, and find favor with God.