The Cathedral Builder Who Never Saw the Spires

In 1248, Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone for Cologne Cathedral in Germany. He envisioned a magnificent house of worship that would dwarf every church in Europe. Konrad poured his life into the project, but he died in 1261 with only the choir partially built. Generations of architects, stonemasons, and laborers carried the work forward, father to son to grandson. Construction halted entirely in 1473, with a massive crane sitting idle atop the unfinished south tower — where it remained for four hundred years. The cathedral was not completed until 1880, six centuries after Konrad's first stone was placed.

Konrad wanted to build a house for God. What he could not foresee was that God would build something far greater through him — a legacy of faith passed down through dozens of generations, each one adding their portion to something none of them would see finished alone.

When David told the prophet Nathan he wanted to build the Lord a temple, the Almighty reversed the arrangement entirely. "I will establish a house for you," God declared — not a house of cedar and stone, but a dynasty, an eternal covenant stretching far beyond anything David could blueprint. David offered God a building project. God offered David an everlasting kingdom. The Most High is never outdone in generosity. What we plan for Him, He always surpasses with what He plans for us.