LITL: The Answer is always No

Yesterday I had my first ministry support appointment. It went very well. I got the opportunity to sit down with a Pastor with whom I am quite familiar through various involvements with the ministry already.

At the end of the meeting, I jokingly asked him "So how did I do?" His response was very encouraging: "You did great. Just relax and don't ever be afraid to ask." This is similar to the idea that the answer to an un-asked question is always no.

This later brought to mind a passage I have recently read in small group, the one when God gave Solomon wisdom. 

"At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?”

 

And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. Lord my God, You have now made Your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. Your servant is among Your people You have chosen, a people too numerous to be numbered or counted. So give Your servant an obedient heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 

 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to understand justice, I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again. In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no man in any kingdom will be your equal during your entire life. If you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.” (I Kings 3:5-14)

Solomon's response to the Lord's question shows a great faithfulness and longing for the Lord. Often we are too caught up in our lives and our problems to even notice that God is trying so hard to bless us. We won't sit down for two seconds to enjoy the things God has given us, or to hear his voice. We just keep on trudging through our daily lives because that's the way its always been and always will be. 

WAKE UP! Yes, God calls us to some pretty mundane and difficult things sometimes, but he is still our Father and still wants to bless us. If we are willing to follow him wholeheartedly, he will bless us as he blessed Solomon. 

"All these blessings will come and overtake you, because you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Your descendants will be blessed, and your land’s produce, and the offspring of your livestock, including the young of your herds and the newborn of your flocks. Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." (Deuteronomy 28:2-6)

So in all things, seek the Lord's blessing. He may not bless everything you do, but if that is the case, then maybe you should change what you are doing. But when something is laid on your heart, don't ever be afraid to ask. God loves you and wants what is best for you. Better than anything you could dream of.