Provision for Your Assignment
by Pastor Steve Ellison
In the most recent devotional of this series, using the story of King David being forced to choose the punishment for his sin, I recommended that we choose as David did and place ourselves into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, great, great! The Lord’s mercies to us are indeed great as David certainly testifies. The son of David, who is the subject of this article, is a case in point. Solomon was the second son of David born to Bathsheba. You are familiar with the first son born to David and Bathsheba. He died because of the David’s sin. It would be understandable, maybe even expected, if God had not allowed the union of David and Bathsheba to produce any offspring. However, our merciful, good, and longsuffering God did bless them with Solomon, who became king after the death of his father David, even though David had other, older living sons.
First Kings chapter three tells us that Solomon’s love for the Lord was proved by his obedience to the statutes of his father David. That is except for one thing. Solomon offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, something the Lord had forbidden. Early in his reign, Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings at one of the high places and the Lord, in His infinite grace and mercy, appeared to Solomon in a dream. The Lord told Solomon to ask Him for anything that he wanted. Solomon rightly prefaced his request by praising and thanking God for His kindnesses. First Kings 3 tells us that Solomon asked for a discerning heart with the ability to distinguish between right and wrong so that he could righteously govern God’s people. Second Chronicles 1 tells us that he asked for wisdom and knowledge so that he could effectively lead God’s people.
Clearly, God was pleased with Solomon’s request, so He granted it. In addition, God gave him great honor and riches in such huge quantities that he had no equal during his lifetime. I wonder what it was about Solomon’s answer that so pleased the Lord. It seems to me that even though Solomon was not perfectly obeying God, he was making a sincere effort and doing it with great commitment. Also, it appears that Solomon had a good grasp of the assignment God had given to him. Solomon seemed to understand that his calling was a difficult and important one. He made his request with thankfulness for prior blessings and an understanding that he could not complete his assigned task without the further blessing and help of the Lord.
I believe that Christians today would do well to spend time considering just exactly what it is that the Lord has called us to do. God has given clear commands in the Bible for every Christian. Additionally, I do believe that for many of us if not all, that the Lord has a special calling or task. Just as Solomon was not perfect, neither am I, and neither are you. That does not exempt us from being called into service. Once you come to a clear understanding of your divine assignment, spend some time thinking about what it is that you most need in order to complete the task. Then ask for that thing. God wants to provide it. He wants you to succeed in whatever He has called you to do. God delights in giving good gifts to His children and in spite of our imperfections, He wants to bless us so we can accomplish His will.
