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9 "So give your servant a discerning heart … to distinguish between right and wrong…"
1 Kings 3:9 (NIV)
Feeling the weight of responsibility? For self, for others, to others? Think it's going to overwhelm you? Solomon did. As a young leader of an emerging nation, he felt the press. Trying to get the ball up court, he sensed pressure all along the way. Helping his team to score, to win in a very competitive “world league” was no easy task.
Into that scenario stepped God. He issued Solomon this challenge: "Ask Me anything and I will give it to you." Solomon's reply was both stunning and foundational. He just wanted discernment for every move he made. He knew his “team” could never score enough to win if he kept turning the ball over in moments of leadership. He had to lead well, to get it right the first time way more often than not, to exercise wisdom and handle responsibility well.
Discernment means seeing farther than those around you … and seeing more deeply too. It is the laser-like look that distinguishes between right and wrong, between appropriate and not, even between good and best. It considers time and score and space. It carries wisdom along and deposits it right where it needs to be applied.
In Solomon we see these actions expressed and his wish granted:
He addressed responsibility. He attacked it head-on. He didn't shy away from it, asking for comfort, escape, relief or other things instead.
He pinpointed discernment as his greatest need. Navigating through right and wrong, finding what's best, and doing it is a crucial life skill.
He recognized discernment as a heart issue, not just a head issue. Only the heart allows a man to act on what he sees and knows. The heart activates and completes the discernment.
He asked God for discernment because he knew not just what he needed, but Who could supply it. Athlete, are you feeling the weight of responsibility, for both yourself and others? How are you handling that weight?
