Man Ordered to Demolish His CastleRobert Fidler, a farmer who lives forty miles south of London, built his dream home back in 2002, and it actually resembles a small castle; it looks pretty cool! But don’t get too happy for Fidler, because here’s where the story takes a turn for the worse! When Fidler’s “castle” was being planned and built, he made sure to keep the whole thing a secret from the planning authorities. In fact, Fidler even went so far as to disguise his house for more than four years after it was completed, as he strategically placed bales of hay and other items around his property in order to block others from noticing it.
Unfortunately for Fidler; however, his miniature castle was finally identified, and a high court in his area has ruled that he must destroy his home completely and return the property to the way it was before he set out to build; he has one year to have his house demolished, the parts moved away, and his property returned to “pre-castle” conditions!
The sad situation boils down to this: Fidler had been accustomed to having disagreements with the planning authorities in the past, and so he anticipated that his permission to build his castle would have been denied; therefore, he decided to go for it anyway – in “secret!”
This story reminds me of the biblical Solomon, who (at first) had so much going for him, as God blessed him to the max and promised to keep the blessings coming, so long as Solomon would continue to keep God number one! But Solomon decided to take matters into his own hands when it came to marrying an Egyptian Pharaoh’s daughter, who worshiped other God’s aside from Yahweh (the true and only God, whom Solomon worshiped). In fact, God had warned Solomon not to take any wives of this nature!
But Solomon set out to do his own thing (by marrying the Pharaoh’s daughter), and he tried his best to “hide” the situation and keep it from “disrupting” the blessings he received from God. In fact, after Solomon built God’s temple, and then his own palace, he built a separate palace for his wife that was set back from his own, because (as Solomon said), “My wife must not [live where I live], because the places where the ark of the LORD have entered are holy (2 Chronicles. 8:11).” In other words, Solomon was employing his own kind of hay and such to try to disguise his decision from the ultimate of authorities (God), because he hoped he could experience the best of both worlds! He hoped he could serve the Lord and bask in his blessings, while having an Egyptian palace maintained on the side …in clandestine!
Well, that “Egyptian Palace” of his ultimately brought Solomon (in all of his splendor) to his downfall. He learned all too tragically that he couldn’t play with fire without getting burned; he couldn’t serve God without his secret “Egyptian Palace” poking its ugly head up and pulling him away from God. And thus, Solomon (and his entire kingdom) suffered because of his decision. He went from being a spiritual hero to being a two-faced zero, as he started worshiping the gods of his Egyptian wife and those of his other wives as well. That’s when the ultimate authority then made a high court ruling to “demolish” everything that Solomon thought he had going for him!
Here’s the question: What kind of “Egyptian Palaces” might you have secretly tucked away somewhere? Maybe you think you’ve got everyone fooled, and nobody knows you’ve decided to set out on your own course (apart from God) in one or more particular, well-hidden areas of your life. But guess what! – God knows all about your “Egyptian Palaces,” as he can’t be fooled, and if you don’t take care of those things that are drawing you away from him, you (and countless others, as innocent as they may be) will suffer a world of pain in the end!
