1 Kings 6

He is building something in you

I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever. ~ 1 Kings 8:13

Have you ever walked into a building that was still under construction and thought, “I don’t see it”? You see piles of lumber, tools everywhere, exposed wires, unfinished walls, and enough dust to make you wonder if you’ll ever get your shoes clean again. But the builder doesn’t see a mess. The builder sees the finished project.

Today’s scripture reading gives us a glimpse into the construction of Solomon’s temple. Verse after verse describes the measurements, rooms, wood, carvings, gold, and craftsmanship. At first, it can seem like a lot of construction details. But underneath all those measurements is something much more important. God was building a place where His presence would dwell among His people.

Even though we aren’t building the temple today, there is something very important we need to remember. God is still building something today. He is building His people, shaping our hearts, developing our character, and preparing us to carry His presence into a world that desperately needs Him.

Sometimes the process doesn’t look very spiritual and it can look like a lot of waiting. Sometimes it looks like pruning and sometimes it looks like learning patience with someone who seems to be personally assigned to test it. But God sees what we’re becoming even when we can’t see it yet.

As you read this passage of scripture, consider these three truths about what God is building in us and how we can cooperate with Him in the process.

1. God cares about the details because He cares about what He’s building.

This chapter contains an extreme amount of detail about the temple. The dimensions, the rooms, the wood, the carvings, the gold, and the craftsmanship were all carefully planned. God wasn’t careless about the details.

That reminds us that God cares about the details of our lives too. We sometimes think God is only concerned with the big things. We pray about major decisions, big opportunities, and life changing moments, but God also cares about the small things that shape who we become.

Things like the way you treat others and how you respond when you’re frustrated. What you do when nobody is watching and how you handle money. What you allow into your mind and whether or not you use keep word. Things like choosing forgiveness instead of bitterness.

These seemingly small decisions are part of the construction process. You may think, “This little thing doesn’t really matter.” But builders know something important, small pieces eventually become part of a much larger structure.

So today, pay attention to the little things.

• Choose patience when you’d rather react.
• Speak encouragement instead of criticism.
• Tell the truth even when it’s inconvenient.
• Spend a few minutes in God’s Word instead of automatically reaching for your phone.
• Ask God to help you become more aware of His presence throughout your ordinary day.

Don’t underestimate the spiritual significance of small acts of obedience. God is building something in you, one decision at a time.

2. God’s work in you takes time.

The temple wasn’t built in a day. This chapter also tells us that Solomon began building in the fourth year of his reign and completed the temple in the eleventh year. It took seven years. That’s a long time. We live in a world that wants everything immediately. We can order dinner, track the delivery driver, watch a movie, and have an answer to almost any question within seconds.

Then, when God says, “Wait.” Suddenly, seven years doesn’t sound so long. There are things God is developing in us that won’t happen overnight. Patience takes time, wisdom takes experience, character is developed through repeated choices and healing can be a process.

Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen because we attended one great service or read one powerful devotional. God works through seasons. Maybe you’re frustrated because you thought you would be further along by now. Maybe you’ve been praying about something for months or even years.

Don’t assume that because you don’t see the finished product, God isn’t working. Construction can be noisy, inconvenient, and messy. But that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. If you’re in a season of waiting, keep trusting. If you’re in a season of growth, keep learning. If you’re in a season of difficulty, keep following God because you can’t rush God’s process.

3. The goal isn’t simply to build something beautiful, it’s to make room for God’s presence.

This is perhaps the most important truth in the entire chapter. The temple wasn’t impressive simply because it was beautiful. Its purpose was to be a place associated with the presence of God among His people. All the gold, wood, craftsmanship, and careful construction had a purpose and God’s presence mattered more than the building itself.

That challenges us today. We can spend so much time building our lives that we forget why we’re building them. We can build careers, businesses, ministries, homes, relationships, reputations, and platforms. None of those things are necessarily wrong. But if we’re building without making room for God, we’ve missed the greater purpose.

Ask yourself: “Am I making room for God in the life I’m building?” Maybe that means protecting time with Him in the morning. Maybe it means making prayer a priority instead of an emergency plan. Maybe it means creating margin in your schedule so you aren’t too busy to hear Him. Maybe it means asking God to be involved in a decision before you’ve already made up your mind. It could mean surrendering something you’ve been trying to control.

The goal isn’t simply to have a successful life. The goal is to have a life where God’s presence has room to work and here’s something beautiful. First Corinthians 6:19 reminds us that our bodies are now temples of the Holy Spirit. God isn’t looking for a beautiful building today. He’s looking for surrendered hearts that He can move into. That means your ordinary life can become a place where God’s presence is experienced.

Your kitchen, workplace, car, office, classroom, ministry and your conversations. Wherever you go, you carry the opportunity to make room for God.

Building something meaningful takes intention, patience, attention to detail, and a clear purpose. Solomon wasn’t simply constructing a magnificent building. He was preparing a place dedicated to God.

God is doing something similar in us. He is shaping us through every season, every challenge, every decision, and every opportunity to trust Him. Sometimes we see progress, and sometimes we see what looks like a construction zone. But God isn’t finished with us yet.

Today I want to encourage you to trust the Builder. If your life feels unfinished right now, that’s okay. You’re not supposed to be finished yet. God is still working. Don’t become discouraged by the places that still look messy. Don’t compare your construction process with someone else’s finished looking life. Keep allowing God to work on the details, keep trusting Him through the waiting, and most importantly, keep making room for His presence. What God is building in you isn’t just for you. He wants to use your life to carry His presence, demonstrate His love, and point others toward Him. You may not see the finished picture yet, but the Builder does. Keep trusting His hands. He knows exactly what He’s doing.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 6

1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. 

2 Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 

3 The vestibule in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of the vestibule extended ten cubits from the front of the house. 

4 And he made for the house windows with beveled frames.

5 Against the wall of the temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. 

6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple. 

7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 

8 The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

9 So he built the temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. 

10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

11 Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: 

12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 

13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 

15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. 

16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 

17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 

18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

19And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 

20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. 

21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 

22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

23 Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 

24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 

25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. 

26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. 

27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 

28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 

30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall. 

32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 

33 So for the door of the sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, one-fourth of the wall. 

34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. 

35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 

38And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

Journal:

• What area of my life do I sense God is currently working on?
• Are there small decisions or habits that God may be asking me to pay more attention to?
• Where have I become discouraged because God’s work seems to be taking longer than I expected?
• What does making room for God’s presence look like in my everyday life right now?
• Is there something I’m trying to build without fully surrendering it to God?
• What would change in my daily life if I truly believed that God isn’t finished building me yet?