Tuesday

As a youth pastor, one of my greatest trials has been finding a sub to teach my Sabbath School class if I’m ever gone. My timing must be profoundly terrible, because my list isn’t short of people to ask. And, routinely, I often find myself on Friday afternoon, scrambling to find someone to teach my class the next day.

It was a week just like any other—me, panicked on Friday afternoon, sending out text after text. No, sorry, I’m in the Caribbean this weekend!... Ah, I wish you’d asked me sooner. I just told my girlfriend I’d go on a hike with her…Sorry, my dog is getting elective surgery tomorrow. Wish I could.

Finally, I decided to ask my senior pastor—my boss—if, by some miracle, he wasn’t teaching another class, had the bandwidth, and was even willing to substitute for me in the Youth Room.

Immediately, he texted back. I’ll be there.

“And the Lord said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put my name there forever, and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.’”

This is taken from 1 Kings, where King Solomon has finished the enormous project of building the temple of God. The job is done, and the Bible says that God tells Solomon something profound: I’ll be there.

How does God respond to our sincere worship?