I heard a short devotional sermon in church yesterday, and it got me thinking a little about my project. While I have intentionally steered my scope away from the topic of religion and prayer etc. (although some will say it is indeed a very thin line), this short passage which was shared was interesting to me because it talked about someone’s greatest desire being fulfilled.
5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” (taken from 1 Kings 3:5-14)
If I were to summarize and perhaps, if I may, slightly paraphrase the passage, God tells King Solomon: Wish for anything and I will fulfill it. And Solomon asks for wisdom to rule his kingdom, instead of long life, riches or even death for his enemies. Its sort of like a genie asking what your wish is—I’m not saying God is like a genie that grants wishes, but in this case the circumstances are similar as one is being ask for his or her wish in certainty that it will come true.
This is, of course, compared to most of the time where we make wishes without the knowledge or certainty that they will be fulfilled. Does that change things? I’m not sure, but I do know that wishes inevitably contain a certain amount of uncertainty in fulfillment—or possibility, as I have endlessly mentioned—and it is this possibility of fulfillment or failure that makes it so captivating to the imagination.
And now… I’m exploring how to encourage working towards this possibility of fulfillment!
