My eight-year-old wants to fly. I don’t mean fly airplanes, I mean physically fly. Like a bird.
For months she would pray at night for God to give her the ability to fly. Eventually she stopped asking, but if the Lord asked her today what she wanted more than anything in the world, she would choose to fly over wisdom for sure.
I have often wondered what I would say if God came to me as He did to Solomon (see 1 Kings 3:5), offering anything the heart desired. I would like to say I would ask for wisdom, but I am not sure. After all, flying sounds pretty amazing, too.
What strikes me about Solomon’s request is that he already must have had a pretty healthy dose of wisdom in order to respond the way he did.
We read the Scripture like a story and recognize the brilliance in the answer, but I don’t think I have ever really appreciated how genius the answer really was. He asked for wisdom—which encapsulates not only knowledge but the ability to use that knowledge appropriately.
In biblical terms, wisdom is not just general, but rather it is specific to knowing God as well. And with that knowledge and ability to use it come all the other things a king could aspire towards.
What is your heart's desire? What do you long for at your heart's core? Is it something tangible? Relational? Emotional? Physical? Not many of us have full-scale conversations with the Lord akin to that of Solomon, but we all have to ability to come to the Lord and place our request before Him. Nothing is too big or too small for Our Lord.
And just as He wanted the best for the Israelites, He wants the best for you as well.
Nothing is too big or too small for Our Lord. // Dr. MaryRuth HackettClick to tweet
Place your heart's desire before the Lord and trust in His love for you.
Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett is a writer, national speaker, and podcast host covering topics in psychology and faith. She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and works at the important intersection of faith and developmental science, blending them in the original harmony God intended. Dr. Mary Ruth is the author of Daughter by Design: Discovering Your Identity as God's Beloved Daughter, and co-coauthor of Spiritual Discernment for Beginners: Learning to Hear God and Defeat the Lies of the Enemy. She is a contributing author to All She Had and our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
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