Do you remember playing a game as a kid that went something like this… "If you had 3 wishes and could ask for absolutely anything in the whole world, what would you wish for?" Now maybe that game was more popular for those of us that grew up back in the I Dream of Jeannie era, where granting her goofy master's wishes was a central re-occurring theme of every episode. It seems to me, though, that every generation has had some variation of this wishful thinking pastime. While the wish lists that people come up with differ in how they are phrased, there are definitely some overwhelmingly popular themes that almost always emerge. Wishes for some combination of copious amounts money, fame, beauty, love or exotic possessions dominate – along with, of course, reserving the final wish for requesting 3 more wishes.
With that backdrop in mind I have always been fascinated with the account in Scripture of the man who actually got to play that game… for real… with God. Tucked away in the middle of this week's Old Testament GRIP reading is the story of Solomon's experience where God appears to him and says the following words, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." (2 Chronicles 1:7, NIV). WOW, talk about a heart stopper! I would love to have been a fly on the palace wall or a locust in the royal lawn to have had the opportunity to see Solomon's reaction to God's offer and to watch the drama of that moment unfold. A real-life, not-a-game, ask-for-whatever-you-want offer coming from none less than the Creator and Ruler of the Universe! After what I'm sure was a very pregnant pause, out of all the mouth watering possibilities to choose from, Solomon requests…"Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (2 Chronicles 1:10).
What a humble and selfless request! Respect. Ignoring all of the grandiose asks that he could have made that would have greatly enhanced his own life and situation Solomon choose rather to focus on being better equipped to fulfil the task that God had called him – to serve God and His people. I think it's safe to assume based on His response to this request that God was extremely pleased with Solomon here. God says that because Solomon didn't ask for all the things for himself that he could have, like wealth, power, long life, etc., then He was going to give him all those things anyway. This was like history's best ever throw-in bonus gift! Reading God's response, I can't help but be reminded of a New Testament passage where Jesus challenges us to, "seek first His (God's) kingdom and His righteousness, and all these (other) things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33).
History goes on to record that God was true to His word in every respect. Solomon proceeded to have a one-of-a-kind rule – world renowned for his wisdom, wealth and splendor. Now while it's highly unlikely that any of us will ever find ourselves in Solomon's sandals, with a God-given ask for anything you want wish coupon in our pocket, there are still a number of extremely valuable lessons for us to be learned here. In no particular order these are:
- The Importance of Decisions - Solomon suddenly found himself in a situation where he had to make a huge, monumental choice that would significantly impact the course of the rest of his life. While the size, shape and gravity of the decisions that we face will vary greatly they are nonetheless pivotal moments in our lives. Some hold more dramatic consequences and some less, but all have importance and work together to define our life's direction and experience.
- The Value of Wisdom - We are told in Scripture that wisdom is more desirable than gold. Do we really believe that? Do we practice that? You see, if one brings wisdom with them to the decision making table then it will impact the whole of their life. They will consistently make wise spiritual decisions, wise financial decisions, wise relational decisions, and the list goes on. In turn, each of those wise decisions will bear fruit in one's life. Wisdom truly is the gift that keeps on giving. And the really great news here is that God freely offers this gift of immense value to all who earnestly seek and request it of Him. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." (James 1:5). That's pretty incredible when you stop and think about it. Maybe Solomon wasn't the only one who received a once in a lifetime offer from God.
- The Priority of Right Priorities - Solomon kept the proper priorities in focus, even when facing an unpanelled opportunity to put himself first. God first, others second and ourselves last is a highly recommended priority order that is restated over and over again in God's Word and one that should definitely impact our decision making process. Our natural instincts, influenced heavily by basic human nature, strongly resist the idea of putting ourselves last. They continually pressure us to look out for #1, and by default we are always slotted in at #1. But as this story of Solomon's experience shows us we don't end up suffering, like our human nature tells us we will, when we place God and others ahead of ourselves. God is no one's debtor. Now the rewards and blessings that we experience as a result of holding and practicing proper priorities may very well look much different than what Solomon received, but none the less, in God's great wisdom they will be perfectly appropriate and beneficial for our own unique situation and experience.
- The Utility of Humility - For some reason people like to brag about being self-made men or women. Great pride is taken in loudly proclaiming along with Frank Sinatra, "I Did It My Way". Being a self-made person who did it their own way pales, though, in comparison to being someone who is God-made and who did it His way. We are instructed in Scripture that if we pridefully inflate and build ourselves up then we will be humbled, but if we humble ourselves then God will exalt us (see Talasi’s blog from May 12 for more details on this particular topic). This account of Solomon's experience paints for us an unmistakable picture of the positive aspect of that principle in action. Solomon's humility resulted in God's exalting, which in turn allowed Solomon to accomplish far more with his life than he ever could have dreamed of doing in his own strength.
Solomon's life, despite this incredible outpouring of God's blessing, was still less than perfect. While wisdom influenced the majority of his decisions he still made some poor choices later in life. Short of eternity that is our lot too. Perfection is unattainable in this lifetime. We will all sin. We will all make poor choices at various points in time. But acknowledging the above lessons and consistently putting them into practice in our lives will significantly reduce the number and severity of those failures. After all, by very definition, to not act wisely is downright foolish.
-Gord Hanson
(Associate Pastor of Administration)