Some mornings if I’m crunched for time, I’ll use an online devotional called “Our Daily Bread.” I have the phone app and everything! So, back in June I read an entry about King David and how he wanted to build the permanent temple for God.

Actually, the temple thing wasn’t the point of the devotional, but it’s the part that applied to me.

What happened is that God told David some “good news” and some “bad news.” It was great that David aspired to build the temple. But… he wasn’t going to. Instead, God assigned the job to David’s son Solomon.

I suspect if it’d been me, I would have been super disappointed and not a little pouty. I’d be in danger of having the kind of selfish ambition James refers to in the third chapter of his letter. But David submitted to God’s will and threw himself into supporting Solomon.

I also do well any time I aspire to serve God. Yet he will assign roles according to his plan, not necessarily according to my desires. If my motives for wanting to serve are pure, I’ll submit.

As near as I can figure, “Ambition” is fine as long as it refers to seeking excellence and having a good work ethic and all. Ambition gets to be a problem when you want a particular role for your own sake. Then if someone else gets that role, you become jealous and bitter.

May I always be ready to step back and assist my brother and sisters, even when they get an assignment that I may have wanted.

Thanks for reading,
Jan