READ
1 KINGS 3, 4
TEXT TO MEDITATE ON
And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but 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 many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” 1 Kings 3: 7-9
REFLECT
It is usually a bad sign when a person feels overwhelmed by the immensity of their job. Perhaps they had been assigned a task they feel unprepared for, perhaps their predecessor was a far more capable person than they are now, or perhaps the stakes involved in the work are too high. Whatever the cause of their feelings of inadequacy, it is a bad start to the job.
Solomon felt exactly this way. His father's record both as a warrior as well as a wise and selflessly caring king was legendary. He was God's beloved, a man so blessed by God that God's hand was seen in every one of his endeavours. In his prayer to God, Solomon said this of his father David's relationship with God, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love". Solomon himself was, at least in his eyes, just a child. He was ignorant of protocols, whether of the royal court, or of justice, or of war. Most of all, he was overwhelmed by the size of the nation he had been assigned to govern, and the fact that this was God's own nation. There was so much at stake. Solomon was being asked to put on shoes far too large for him.
But God was not worried about what Solomon was unable to do. Rather, God was pleased that Solomon acknowledged his inadequacies and instead of asking for the trappings of royalty such as wealth and longevity, he wanted the tools to govern God's people well - an understanding mind and discernment.
It was these two elements of Solomon's character that made him a good leader: a sober assessment of his own abilities and inadequacies, and a desire to be a trustworthy servant of God. Solomon knew that God had made him king not so that he could reap the benefits of kingship, but that he would take this role as a solemn trust from God and thus prosper the nation. And he knew that being a ruler was not a simple matter: there was so much he did not know.
RELATE
Did you know that every job you have is a sacred trust or assignment from God? There is no dichotomy between spiritual work and secular work. All work is spiritual and sacred. Whether you are an office worker or a company CEO, a professional or a daily-rated worker, a student or a teacher, the work that you have is something entrusted to you by God. And in the course of your work, your focus must be on how you are serving God in your work. For example, as a student, you ask yourself how you can help another student in their work. Maybe it is in sharing your resources - if you have books or notes that another student does not have, you can share those. Or if you are very good in your studies, you can help by tutoring weaker students. You could even share your lunch with another student who cannot afford lunch. As a student, you are in school not just to get good grades, but to help someone else.
One doctor I knew referred his patients who needed spiritual help to me. He saw every patient as a person God had brought to him to minister to. Another doctor working in a poor neighbourhood cares for the welfare of his patients instead of merely treating the illness. Each of these persons see their vocation as sacred trusts from God and take their calling seriously. I know of Christian lawyers who freely give of their time to serve needy clients and who fervently pray for each of their clients. A social worker considers as her church, the community of social workers who together daily minister to and pray for the broken persons they are assigned to help. God sees every vocation as sacred and calls each person to see our vocation as a sacred task.
John the Baptist taught this truth as he spoke with persons of various vocations:
And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” Luke 3:10-14
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Christian Japanese soldiers risked their careers and lives to show kindness and protect the civilian population from atrocities committed by their fellow soldiers. Some even helped to preserve and advance the Church. There is a sacred role for every believer in every profession.
If then we see our vocations as a calling from God, we will also see promotions differently from the way the world sees career progression. It is easy to see promotions in terms of the prestige and benefits that come with the promotions. But what if we saw the promotion as another assignment from God? What if we saw a promotion not as going up the pecking order and being able to lord it over more people, but as an opportunity to serve more people, or to serve them in an enlarged role? Imagine persons in every level of government or corporations having servant hearts.
I once asked a Christian brother who was in senior management in a multi-national corporation whether office politics in those 'high places' was toxic. He said it was very much so. Every executive was looking to unseat their superior, and watching out to be unseated by their subordinate. I then asked how he could cope in such a toxic environment. He answered that it was very difficult, but when he reminded himself everyday that his work was an assignment from God he developed a different perspective of office politics. Whether he got promoted or demoted, he had a task from God to do. The only difference that a promotion or a demotion made was that he would have different tasks. I think this attitude towards our careers protects us from excessive stress while keeping our focus on what is really important.
The second element of Solomon's character was his acknowledgment of his inadequacies. King Solomon had every resource made available to him. If he wanted good counsel, it was readily available. If he wanted resources for war or to execute judgment, they were available as well. Despite all of this, he sought from God wisdom from on high. He did not just rely on the resources that he had.
When we do God's work, we need to seek to do it God's way. We may be very experienced and skilled in our area of expertise. We may even have all resources at our fingertips. Yet when we do sacred work, there is an added dimension to our work - we acknowledge that God alone sees things that are invisible and imperceptible to human senses. A very reputable surgeon shared how, into his thirtieth year of surgical practice, he still asks for God's Presence to be in the operating theatre each time he performs a surgery. He acknowledged that there are so many unknowns in the human body, and that only God knows what is happening. A counselor has an ongoing conversation with God as he counsels, constantly asking the Holy Spirit to help him interpret what his client is saying to him. He explains that he does this because only God knows the truth behind what is being said. An executive asks God to show her what she ought to know when she enters a board meeting. In each of these cases, the persons prayed not so much to protect their own interests, but because they saw their tasks as sacred to God and that they could only serve God faithfully if they had resources from God.
If every Christian saw spirituality not as an exercise to be practised in church or retreat centre, but as a lifestyle to be lived out in the often toxic world; if we could see that every vocation is a sacred calling and holy to our Lord, and requiring godly wisdom and insight to perform, then indeed the Kingdom of God will be in the world. Just as much as Solomon's Israel was God's nation, our world and sphere of influence is God's world.
REST
This is my Father's world
Oh, let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the ruler yet
This is my Father's world
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King, let the heavens ring
God reigns, let the earth be glad
This is my Father's world
He shines in all that's fair
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass
He speaks to me everywhere
Maltbie D. Babcock
Chiu Ming Li
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