The Direction of Wisdom {DWITW 365}
How often are our prayers asking God to do something specific for us (as if He is a genie)? Or, maybe they end up being requests for Him to clear the difficulties so that our walk to where we think we are headed will be easier? How often are those prayers answered? And maybe the bigger question is how often are they not?
I can tell you from personal experience that when I feel as if my prayers are going into a bottomless abyss, I find myself distracted and discouraged. I find myself agonizing over these prayers. It often ends up creating anxiety within me that my rational, Christ-loving, God-fearing self knows to be crazy and ridiculous. But my irrational control-freak self still feels helpless because I can’t make happen what I want to happen.
Similarly, when I read about King Solomon, my mind tends to drift off a bit. I wonder just what it would have been like to have a life with all the wisdom, power, money and success he was given. Comparatively, my poor-as-a-church-mouse way of thinking could only dream to have such things, while the other (more rational) side of me believes it was probably more work than it was worth. But the bottom line is, in 1 Kings 3, Solomon asks God for wisdom to be able to rule his people well. God answered his prayer. Simple as that. Solomon was faithful and obedient to the decrees that David left and therefore honored the godly lineage. Solomon loved God...but that did not make him perfect. Even with all of that wealth, wisdom, and power - he made some mistakes.
Despite having unimaginable wisdom,
even Solomon fell short of walking the correct path at all times.
Solomon still worshipped in the wrong locations and allowed temples for other false gods to be built (knowing full well these were sins against Yahweh). Despite having unimaginable wisdom, even Solomon fell short of walking the correct path at all times. So, when my prayers go unanswered, and I begin to wonder if it’s due to my lack of faith or obedience, it’s a helpful reminder to me to see that King Solomon had all the wisdom in the world, yet he, too, was unable to maintain a perfect walk. The other bright side is, God still answered his prayers. God was perfectly faithful to Solomon, even when Solomon aimed to be faithful to God, albeit imperfectly.
My day to day life can either run super-boring or mega-busy. Fortunately, I live an amazing life. I’m surrounded by amazing people and I am blessed, at times, to support those amazing people in their moments of need (either through prayer or through other measures). I actually tend to find myself “butting” into their lives as often as possible. Most frequently, I find myself in prayer for them. Sometimes it’s for their salvation, sometimes it’s for financial difficulties, and often it’s for physical or emotional healing.
I am learning though that while I always want to be the person that is effective in caring for hurts, I am not always the person that has the perfect answers or the right words to bring peace. I certainly don’t have the ability (beyond prayer) to bring miraculous healing. Therefore, my frustration level of feeling helpless and “only” being able to offer up prayers rises. While l I know prayer is the greatest and most powerful thing I can do, it also feels as if I am not quite doing enough. I’m an action type of girl. I want to dive into the problem and come up with a solution. Thus, I find myself in prayer, begging God at times to intervene on behalf of my people. That is when I find myself following Solomon’s example in the Psalms, praising God for His love towards the people I love. I pray this way, in as much passion and purity as I can, knowing my heart is fallen and flawed. I know full well that the love God feels (with His perfect, merciful heart) is much bigger than anything I could ever hope to offer up to someone.
The love God feels with His perfect, merciful heart is much bigger than anything I could ever hope to offer up to someone.
The problem is, no matter how often I pray for the right words or the right actions, rarely do I feel as if I have been given the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon, the man who cunning enough to suggest cutting a baby in half. I cannot even imagine being that baby’s mother. Yet that was one of his most well-known judgments. Even people now who don’t follow Christ know about this judgment. Anyone with any parental instincts would have let the baby go to other woman rather than sacrifice its very life. And yet, just today in trying to finish up this post, I prayed for wisdom. I prayed for the words to give to each of you - words that might encourage and set you off in the right path for what your journey is supposed to be for the next six months or year. And I can quite honestly state, I do not feel as if I’ve been given such knowledge.
So as I sit here on a Saturday night, struggling to find words, feeling somewhat frustrated, lonely, even scared for some of the things I believe may occur in my future (definitely wondering what the next 6 months, or even the next year of my life looks like), I know my obedience to walk the walk I have been called to for the kingdom needs to remain first and foremost. And while I have no real idea what the future may hold, I can say this: whatever path we are on, as long as we are loving God, working diligently to maintain that obedience, and setting our eyes on the path that He has chosen for us, I think we will be ok. Will we have fame and fortune, riches and wisdom like Solomon? Maybe, maybe not. More power to you girl, if that happens! I, however, believe that I will continue to be shouting out prayers to God begging Him for help for my loved ones - healing for their physical bodies, security for their finances, and salvation for their hearts. And I think I’m just fine with it.
Sonya Gentry wants to live in a world where being kind and loving means that when we encounter a need or brokenness, we say yes first and think about it second. This would be a world where walking with Jesus means trying to act like Jesus through loving, relevant acts of service; where Christians put their hands and feet in the dirty situations of the world in order to show people God’s love and grace; where we understand that comfort zones are meant to be broken because people need us to show up and be be the best portrayal of God’s love we can be. When she's not working, you can find her being silly with friends and family, playing games with her nephews, volunteering for various organizations and events with her church, or relaxing with a movie.
Her favorite Scripture is John 15:16-17: “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you. This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another” (AMP).