I Kings 3:5, 10

We know the story: Solomon is told by God that he could ask for anything that he wanted. Solomon does not ask for wealth, does not ask for his enemies to be wiped out, does not ask for a long life. Instead he makes a rather startling admission and request. “…I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted” (verses 7-8). In other words, Solomon is saying, “Help! I don’t know what I’m doing! I’m in over my head! This job seems way too big!”

After he makes this request the Scripture says that the Lord was pleased with it. Why? Solomon was admitting that there would be no feasible possibility that he could accomplish what needs to be accomplished on his own strength and ability. He was recognizing his own inability.

The words that come from our lips begin in our heart. Our hearts are shown by the words that come from our mouths. Words flow from our heart, as Jesus told us (Matthew 12:34-35 ).

So what does God respond with? He tells Solomon that He was indeed happy with what he asked for but also what he did not ask for. It is very important what we say, but it also is important what we do not say! So, even the words that do not come from our mouth have meaning.

And think about this: when Solomon was asked what he wanted he did not hesitate, he did not stop to think, he did not ask for time to consider. It just came to him. If God were to ask you, “What do you want?” what would your answer be? What would be the first thing out of your mouth? What was the first thing that you asked for this morning?

Solomon’s answer was ready. He asked for the strength, the power, the grace, the wisdom to meet the situation that God had placed him in. That was his one prayer, his one desire.

What is yours?

John 9:1-3

The question that the disciples asked Jesus still plaques us today. “Why?” We all have that question in the back of our minds. Some days the question moves to the front of our thoughts, but it is often there. “Why did this happen?” “Why did I contract cancer?” “Why did my house burn?” “Why did I lose my job?” and a host of other “Why?” questions.

The disciples took it a step further by also asking, “Who?” In other words, it was as though they were saying, “Lord these things just don’t happen. It has to be somebody’s fault, so who’s was it?” We want it to be somebody’s fault, somebody who had done something wrong. If these things just happen, they could happen to me, but if it’s because he/she/they had done something, well, then I might be safe.

If (or when) something bad happens in your life, are you ever tempted to say, “Well, this is God’s way of paying me back”? These are the thoughts of not just the disciples but of people ever since the disciples. But this was of thinking is just too narrow. Sin was not the direct cause: God was!

God had let this man be born blind simply for the reason that Jesus said, “that the works of God should be revealed.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “God let this event take place in this man’s life so that the event you are about to see would take place.”

We so quickly look to a cause for trouble in our lives. We want to blame someone. But Jesus had would tell them in just a little bit that in this life we will have tribulation. No ifs, ands, or buts. We will have tribulation. It is not your fault. It is not mine. Some things do “just happen.” But behind everything that happens, God has a plan and a purpose for it.

Who? God. Why? So He can get the glory in the end. So that His works can be revealed. So that His plan will be made evident. So that you can experience the power of God when He changes your life.

The only other question left: When? When He chooses to move. It was a man born blind, not a child. He had lived his life until he was grown as a blind man. Now he sees. He didn’t grow out of it. No doctor had healed him. He had a divine appointment on that day with this man called Jesus, and when his appointment was over, his life was changed forever.

In the end, it is not the source that matters but our response. If we could learn to stop asking “Why?” and start asking “What now?”