Stephen Covey says all things are created twice. There is a mental creation and a physical creation. Buildings start out as blueprints.
I Chronicles 28:11 says, “Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind.”
This the first creation--the Spirit gives David a detailed set of blueprints for the Temple. In his mind’s eye, David sees a mental picture of everything from the portico to the inner rooms. I don’t know exactly how God does this, but the fact of the matter is that while neurologists can trace brain waves via electroencephalographs, millions of signals crisscrossing millions of synapses is still a mystery! I don’t know how God does it, I just know that God gives ideas and impressions, and sometimes an entire set of blueprints! The Temple wasn’t a good idea. It was a God idea. And there’s a big difference!
Everything starts with vision--the first creation. But the Temple wasn’t built in a day! From start to finish--from the “spiritual Aha” to the finished product--it took seven years!
It may take seven years to build a Temple. It may take many years to build a church buiding and still more years to see a community transformed. It takes time to turn dreams into reality, but God always finishes what He starts. Philippians 1:6 says, “I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
