Keep Your Plans Alive.

Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, – 1Kgs. 1:9‭ NIV‬‬‬‬‬

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Adonijah who was the son of Haggith, and the fourth son of King David had noticed the frailties of his father due to old age but instead of lending him support in his old age had thought it wise to stage a Palace coup against him. Probably to abort the planned intention of his father to make Solomon king, he quickly met with key officials of his father in an attempt to convince them and have their support in his dream ambition. Whereas Joab the son of Zeruiah who was the army commander and Abiathar the Priest of his father agreed to support his plan, other key officials such as Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet and the members of the special guard of King David refused to support him but he still went ahead and arranged a coronation ceremony announcing himself as the new king – 2Kgs. 1:5-8. Everyone including all his brothers who were the sons of the king and all the officials of the king were invited and accepted the invite by attending, as stated in the scripture that is the foundation of today’s devotional, except all those who had earlier signified their intention not to support his rebellious act – 1Kgs. 1:9-10.

Nathan who was already aware of the promise of King David under the directives of the Holy Spirit to have Solomon take up the kingship after his departure (1Chr. 28:1-21), in conjunction with Bathsheba who was Solomon’s mother informed King David of the activities of Adonijah and the need for him to act promptly to avert his plans – 1Kgs. 1:11-27. King David reacted immediately by arranging for a ceremony to be presided over by Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet where Solomon was announced as king and accompanied by all the royal elements indicating the approval and support of the king. This immediately truncated all that Adonijah and his group were doing as he knew the game was up and all the guests in attendance quickly dispersed in fear – 1Kgs. 1:31-49. However, Adonijah, out of fear for the now King Solomon, ran into the temple and held unto the horns of the Altar in an attempt to draw up a promise from him that he will not be killed, a move that the people interpreted as a demonstration of fear for King Solomon by Adonijah. King Solomon heeded his pleas and that of the people made on his behalf, not to kill Adonijah his brother, with a caveat that should evil be found in him again, he will pay with his life. With this promise, he came down from the Altar, paid obeisance to King Solomon and went to his house.

There is definitely one or two lessons for the Christian today to learn from these events some of which are listed below;
1. This action of Adonijah, although not new to King David was by a son who wanted to express his dissatisfaction with his decision. No matter how much a decision looks right and even with the name of the Almighty God associated with it, it is still not a guarantee that there will be no opposition to it, especially when the one who has such plans is no longer in a position to implement it. The one taking the decision to announce a plan must activate the plan as much as possible else there will be no guarantee that it will be implemented as laid out. You are the only one that is aware of the reasons for your plans and it will be expecting too much to think that you will have the support of another independent minded human being in the implementation of such plans. Activate your plans as much as possible as that remains your only assurance of its implementation.
2. People do not support individual but support the cause that the individual is championing, whether honestly or pretentiously and the support will automatically fizzle out once the cause can no longer be realised. No matter the number of people who seem to be signifying agreement when the one with the plan is still positioned to implement it, it will be expecting too much to believe that the level of support will remain once it is obvious that the cause can no longer be achieved. The case of Simon Peter and Jesus Christ after his death can be referenced here – Jn. 21:15-19. You will need to keep the reality of the objective alive to sustain the level of the support that has been gathered.
3. Support for the one with the plan will be assured only for as long as such is in a position to implement the plan. Indeed, King David informed all his elders about the decision of the Lord to make Solomon king after him and his own plan to ensure that such intention was implemented and they all seemed to be in support as no one raised any objection, but the support that all the officials, except a handful of them, gave to Adonijah when he announced his rebellion indicated that the initial support that was given to King David to Solomon king was conditional. That support was withdrawn as soon as there was the impression that King David was no longer in a position to implement his plans. Likewise their quick departure once Adonijah got found out also indicated that they were always going to be fair weather friends. One would have expected that they would stick with Adonijah after being made aware of the pre-emptive move of King David but they quickly backed out and left Adonijah alone in the cold. There may be so much noise around you claiming to support your cause but know that the support will only remain for as along as your ability to achieve the cause is apparent and it will automatically fizzle out once the possibility of achieving the cause is dead. This has nothing to do with loyalty as what you called support for you was for your cause and there will be nothing to support again once the cause has disappeared.

Christians need to understand that the greatness of all those beautiful and divinely inspired plans will never be achieved if it is not activated or someone else is being relied upon to do so. You are the one that have the vision for those plans and thus have the motivation for its implementation, two major factors that are required for any plan to be successfully implemented. It is good to strategise on its implementation but there is need to be aware that you remain the best person to implement it. Stop complaining about people disappointing you as no one has the destiny to implement your plans. Truly, you will need destiny helpers like Prophet Nathan but it will still come down to you doing the needful as all they can do is help and not activate. Any plan that you are not in a position to implement is as good as dead. Receive divine vision for your success, plan and strategise on the implementation but activate them yourself by pleading with the Almighty God to grant you the ability including resources to activate those plans, if you intend to see the plans come to reality. May God grant us all the ability to implement our plans in Jesus name. Amen