To Encourage You

1 Kings 3:7-9 “And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

Have you ever found yourself to be in over your head?  Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you felt totally unprepared and overwhelmed as a result? Well, that’s the situation in which the new king of Israel found himself as he began his reign. God had just told Solomon, “Ask what I shall give you.” It was an incredible offer, and Solomon could have, conceivably, asked for anything under the sun.  So what did he ask for? He asked for an understanding mind.  Listen to the language he uses to describe his situation: “I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.”  What an expression of need!  He knew that in his newfound great responsibilities, he was completely out of his league. He was in over his head. So again, have you ever been there?  Well, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, that’s your situation right now, whether you realize it or not.  You see, God has called believers to a great responsibility.  He’s given each and every one of us certain spiritual gifts and He intends for us to put those gifts to work.  We have been told throughout the Scriptures that we will all stand before Christ one day to give an account. We have a responsibility to serve and honor Him in everything we do.  As we live our lives and make decisions every day, we are called to be aware, in the words of the late R.C. Sproul, that “right now counts forever.” 

For the most part, unbelievers have no concept of this, although they, too, will answer to God.  They are in for a shock of all shocks if they don’t turn from their sin, for every creature has been called to serve their Creator.  It’s something an unbeliever, unwittingly or not, will continually fail to do. But what about the believer, for those who are very aware of the things God has called us to?  Do we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Do we think we have the right stuff to love our spouse as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it? Do we think we are inherently sufficient to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves? And do we think we are able, in our own strength, to work as unto Christ in all that we do?  Are we ready to preach the gospel to everyone in our world?  For you see, as believers, we’re responsible for all these things.  But without the wisdom of God, we are all, every one of us, in over our heads. We are, just as Solomon said, little children who don’t know how to go out or come in.  And so our greatest need is godly wisdom. Proverbs 4:7 (KJV) puts it this way “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

That wisdom comes only as we seek the Lord and meditate on His Word.  As Solomon asked God for wisdom, so we can do just the same in prayer. It was in God’s answer to Solomon that we find the same answer for ourselves: “if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments . . . then I will lengthen your days” (1 Kings 3:14).  It was essentially the same direction Jesus gave to all of us in His concluding remarks of His Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).

So which are you – a wise man or a fool?  Do you realize that you are in over your head and, if so, are you wise enough to go to the only one who has the remedy?