GENE RONCONE

A SEASON FOR LEGACYOur strategy must be practical enough to succeed on earth. It is one thing tohave a plan from heaven, but it is another to make it work on earth. Divine inspirationis not just heaven dropping a burden into our heart. Divine inspiration is not likea can of soup that falls off the top shelf unexpectedly. It is the product of severalthings coming together. As Spirit-filled Christians, we sometimes allow our belief inthe supernatural to make us lazy. We think the hand of the Lord comes upon us whenwe are unprepared, unwilling, and undisciplined. However, the fact that we love God,serve God, and believe in the supernatural does not mean we can assume our own wisdomwalks in tangent with God’s plan. How did God use David to build a bridgefrom heaven to earth? We will identify five important ingredients from David’s model:1. Divine plans become practical when we execute them with diligent study andplanning. David spent years thinking, meditating, and planning about the visionhe received from God. The Bible makes this unmistakably clear in 1Chronicles 22:5:David said, “The house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificenceand fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will makepreparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.That is why we have spent two years interviewing several architects, studyingour needs, getting input from our leadership teams, vigorously interviewingpossible builders, and creating a master design and financial plan. Four architecturalfirms were screened through a three-level process before making a finalselection. Five capital campaign organizations were screened through a fourlevelprocess before making a final selection. Five builders were diligentlyscreened through a five-tier process before making a final selection. Several financialinstitutions were consulted to help us devise a financial master plan tosupport our architectural counterpart. Now—after all this planning and preparation,we are pregnant with God’s vision. We are ready for action.2. Divine plans become practical when we surrender our personal agendas toGod. David had a passion to personally lead the construction of the new temple.However, it was not part of God’s plan. David revealed this disappointingrevelation when he told Solomon:But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you area warrior and have shed blood’ (1 Chronicles 28:3).Like David, each of us will have to pour our personal preferences through thestrain of God’s wil. It is easy to mistake our own preferences for the wil ofGod. The future has and will continue to demand that we separate principlefrom preference.31