6 December

Today's the day when in 1994 The Queen gave her approval for oil drilling to take place in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The move came after studies showed there could be oil worth up to £1 billion lying beneath the castle. Canadian company Canuk Explorations announced plans to begin drilling in Home Park, about 500 metres from the castle walls. There was plenty of opposition from local politicians and from environmental groups to what the media dubbed ‘Dallas-On-Thames', but the county council nevertheless gave permission for the project to go ahead.

Strangely, nothing came of it. The first exploration well was due to be sunk in the summer of 1996. But when the six-year licence held by Canuk Explorations neared expiry that year, the Department of Trade and Industry did not renew it. So the prospect of ‘Royal Oil' evaporated.

Most of us have probably made plans for things that have not come to fruition. Sometimes it is our own mistakes that ruin our plans, but other times God simply says, ‘That might be a good idea, but it's not my plan for you.' We are wise when we recognise that some things we hope for are just not part of God's plan and we just accept that they will not happen. In the Old Testament King David desperately wanted to build a temple, but God said ‘no' to that. In 1 Chronicles 28 we read how David had come to accept that:

David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the brave warriors.

King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.'

Maybe you need to receive God's peace today by recognising there is something you have longed for that is just not part of his plan for you.