December 13 Solomon: 1 Kings 3:5-14, 16-28

A sword can make all the difference. It can cut down an enemy, it can intimidate a foe or it can cut straight to the truth. In King Solomon's case, two women - one devious, one honest were faced with a sword that would destroy a lie. One woman gave birth to a healthy baby - one to a baby who died. The two women claimed that the baby who died was the other woman's baby. One said that she awoke to find her baby dead, but realized it wasn't her baby. UGH, women problems brought before the king. Luckily for the baby, that king was the wisest that ever lived. When King Solomon ordered the live baby to be cut in half with each half given to one of the mothers, the real mother would not allow her child to be harmed. She'd rather see the baby raised by a lying, conniving woman than to have it die. King Solomon recognized that this selfless response came from the real mother.

There are several ways to go with this story - the pain of the mother, the deception of the other woman, the wisdom of Solomon. But what struck me about today's passage was Solomon's innate wisdom that encouraged him to ask God for wisdom. Imagine God asking you today - whatever you want, my child, I will give to you. What would you ask for? Solomon knew what he needed - not what he wanted. He looked upon his leadership position and realized that what he needed most was wisdom to guide the people. He could have asked for strength or money or power or whatever else, but instead, he looked at what he perceived as his main weakness. He wanted wisdom. And God gave it to him in abundance. 

It takes a lot to examine our inner selves and figure out what we really need. If we really were sitting across the table talking to God, what is the thing we need most. Not what we want most, but what we need. God does tell us to ask Him for what we need. Sometimes, what we need most is food, clothing or shelter. Sometimes the need for that overshadows all other needs and until those are met, we are unable to look past them. But through it all, wisdom is the most important thing we need - above everything else. If we have wisdom, we'll figure out how to get the other things we need. Wisdom will bring us out of poverty - whether that means spiritually or financially, it makes no difference. Wisdom will shed light on friendships and relationships that may be causing us to think we need something else. Wisdom will guide us when we are forced to choose a path. So perhaps, we don't need to pray to get the next meal on the table, but the wisdom of how to get that next meal. Wisdom can obtain for us all of our desires and the ability to understand if those desires are real or imagined. If they are good for us or bad for us. 

Several years ago, I worked for a woman who was diagnosed with cancer. I had only been working for her about a year and a half and it became apparent that I was the only one who could run her business while she was in recovery. She prayed for me to have the wisdom to do that. I mean she really prayed. We sat in her office, closed our eyes, she laid hands on me and prayed for the Wisdom to handle this new venture. And God obliged. She could have prayed for her business to stay afloat. She could have prayed for her clients to remain loyal. She could have prayed to be cured so that I wouldn't have to be in charge. Instead, she prayed that the person leading her business would have wisdom to do it right. I think it worked. Although I eventually left her after she recovered and became cancer-free, I believe that prayer kept that business flourishing while she was in treatment. I couldn't have done that without that prayer for wisdom.

My prayer today is to remember to always pray for wisdom first, then everything else will fall into place. I pray to know how to use that sword to cut to the truth in every matter.

December 12 David: 1 Sam. 17:12-51

My favorite boy wonder of the Bible - David! In my youth ministry class, we covered David at great length and I love every minute of his life as outlined in the Bible. He was a little boy when he defeated Goliath. He was a humble anointed king when he respected the unscrupulous but nonetheless elected King Saul. He was a staunch defender of God and His Kingdom and he was a sinner. In fact, he did some pretty bad things and he was punished mightily for them. Just because God loves us, doesn't mean we get away with murder (and sleeping with thy neighbor's wife). David sometimes seems superhuman. If it wasn't for his inadequacies, we would have a hard time relating to him. He loved the Lord. He defended the Lord. He ignored the Lord. He sinned against the Lord. He repented and turned back to the Lord. When you put it in those terms, I think most of us can relate.

What I love most about David though, is the passage suggested for today. He looked his giant in the eye, called on the Lord and slayed the giant. Just like that. No drama. No fanfare. He didn't want the "clothes" he was supposed to put on. He didn't want the weapons he was supposed to use. Nope. He had God at his side. If God is for us, who can be against? But the David and Goliath story is much more than an entertaining story, it's a challenge for us to face whatever giants are standing in our way, hovering over us, taunting us and trying to frighten us into submission.

When we covered David and Goliath in my ministry class, we used Max Lucado's book, Facing Your Giants. I'm not going to go through his analysis of the battle, but it's very good. As part of our teaching, we gave each of the students five stones - my son still carries his five stones in his soccer bag. See, he realized through the class that his giant was soccer. First, I need to tell you that he is very very good at soccer. He wants to be a professional some day and I believe he just may have the talent and drive to do it. But it was also consuming him. He was miserable if the team lost. I get that. But he was also miserable if the team won and he didn't score any goals. Or if the refs were bad. Or if he missed a shot. Or whatever. Once he started to use David's techniques, his enjoyment of the game improved (and so did his game!)

Today I was going to write about all kinds of flowery David stories, but instead, I have to go to a funeral. THAT stopped me in my tracks. This afternoon I'm going to pay respects to a woman close to my age who lost her husband. The giant she must face now is awfully scary.I feel like one of the people on the sidelines of the David and Goliath story - cheering him on, but thinking, "I'm glad that's not me out there fighting that giant." I've been married to my husband and best friend for 21 years. I can't imagine life without him. Now, my friend has to wake up every morning with a horribly ugly, mean giant staring her in the face and she has to deal with that giant beating her up every minute of the day, then smacking her around a little every night before she goes to bed. That giant has several names - Grief, Despair, Loneliness and I'm sure there are many others. I am so thankful that she is a woman of faith. That's the only possible way for her to defeat that giant every day. She is ironically the same person who plans the funerals at our church and ministers to the families. Now, she is in the opposite position - one I'm sure she didn't expect to be in. I pray that she finds her five smooth stones and keeps them in her bag to nail that giant as many times as she has to until she can go over and chop off its head. That could take some time, but God has helped her defeat lions and bears in the past - just like He did with David. He'll help her again, I'm sure.

As far as other giants go, my heart goes out to all who are facing them. Giants of cancer, of broken marriages, of death, of feelings of inadequacy, of despair, of defeat, of powerlessness, of lack of faith, of impurity, of fear, of poverty, of bullies, of hopelessness.... I'm sure there are many. My prayer today is for every giant to be slain in the name of God. My prayers is for unwavering courage like David's to face those giants and hit them right between the eyes. May all of our giants be destroyed today and may our courage be renewed to face and defeat the giants of tomorrow.

December 11 Jesse: 1 Sam. 16:1-13

Jesse - the one from whom all of this stems is today's symbol. But the passages recommended don't talk much about Jesse. This is the story where Samuel goes to Jesse's house to anoint God's chosen one - and my favorite Old Testament person - David. Jesse has a bunch of sons and when he finds out that Samuel is there to anoint one of his sons, he parades them out - one by one - each one is rejected. He probably had some impressive sons - Samuel was sure the first one was the chosen one because of his stately stature. God said, "No, I'm not looking for stately stature."

I struggled quite a bit with my reflections today. The passage doesn't talk much about the man, Jesse, but more about his sons. I tried to think of how Jesse may have felt when Samuel kept dismissing his sons. The sons Jesse thought were worthy of anointing. Jesse probably completely dismissed David. He was little. God surely wasn't going to choose him, was he? Samuel knew though - right away.

How does this relate to my life? That's a little tougher. I had a hard time understanding what today's message was, then it hit me. Don't judge by what you see. David was the unlikely King. I wonder how many things I've dismissed before really understanding what's at stake. How many people have I overlooked without realizing how important they are to my life and to the world in general. Last week, Nelson Mandela died. He was just a poor black man in South Africa and he changed the world. Pope Francis - a humble cardinal from Argentina - is changing hearts all over the world. Mother Theresa - a woman who turned away from all her worldly comforts to dedicate her entire life to the poor and sick of India - changed minds and hearts. It seems like God has a trend of choosing humble little people to change the world. The ultimate humble little person was Jesus, of course, but in today's world, we keep searching for big "saviors" and leaders who look the look and walk the walk. If only we could find one that leads with convictions of heart rather than power, who walks the talk.

Jesse overlooked his humble little person. That humble little person became greater than I'll bet Jesse ever thought he would. Isaiah 11:1-3 tells us: "And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear" 

My prayer for today is that God will open my eyes and heart to see through the superficial stuff and focus on the important stuff. Recognize the wonders and ignore the nonsense. Enjoy the moment and not worry about the future. See the King, not just the little seemingly insignificant boy.