Blown Away
2 Chronicles 9:1-4-“Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon she came to Jerusalem…And when the queen of Sheba had seen…she was breathless.”
Wow!!! Solomon was so famous that he had royalty traveling great distances just to see him, and listen to his wisdom. A few hundred miles doesn’t sound like a great distance according to our traveling abilities today, but at that time, on horseback, it was a major undertaking. But the Queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon’s fame, and she decided she had to meet this great man. (George Clooney doesn’t have anything on Solomon.) She was the Queen, but the greatness of Solomon had made her realize that she must meet him. Of course God had made Solomon famous because Solomon was such a humble person that when God asked him what he wanted Solomon did not ask for money or power, but for wisdom so that he could rule God’s people. So, along with the famous wisdom of Solomon; God gave him wealth and fame beyond imagination. Fame that’s still talked about today! (Britney Spears eat your heart out!!!)
God honors humble people, but only those who are truly humbled can appreciate, and recognize the honors of God. Solomon could have said I acquired this wealth by the work of my hands. Nobody deserves the praise but me; however, Solomon knew that all he had was given to him by God.
In Proverbs 6 there is a list of seven things that are an abomination to the Lord and “haughty eyes”, or as the King James version translates it ”A proud look” tops that list. When God says He hates something, or it is an abomination to Him then we need to pay attention. GOD HATES PRIDEFUL HEARTS, but loves the humble!
Philippians 2:8-9 says, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,…”
James 4:6 says, “…God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
When the Queen got to Solomon in Jerusalem she was not disappointed. All of her questions were answered by Solomon, and the Bible says she was breathless. In other words the depth of Solomon’s wisdom blew her away. I imagine it was like a high school student questioning Albert Einstein about physics. Before the queen completed her question Solomon had the answer on the tip of his tongue.
But, the wisdom of Solomon was not the only thing that blew her away. The Bible makes mention of several other things that impressed her. It says that she was impressed by his house? Can you imagine that, she was a Queen who lived in a palace, and yet, she was impressed by the house that he had built. The work of his hands was so impressive to her that she was marveled by its grandeur. Of course the house was built by the gifts that God had given Solomon. He has given each of us gifts I Corinthians 12:7, “But to each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit, for the common good.” Gifts are given to us not so that we can glorify ourselves, but so that we can glorify God. With the gifts that God has given, we too, can “build” a life that is so impressive that others will be “blown away” when they see us.
The Bible also says that the queen was impressed by the attendance and the attire of Solomon’s “staff”. She was the Queen; she had her own “staff”, but she was impressed by Solomon’s. I imagine that his people were well taken care of, treated nicely; and they showed their appreciation to Solomon by doing their very best to make him look good. (That’s something that companies today should keep in mind!)
The Queen also took notice of the way that Solomon went into the house of God. She realized as did Solomon that he had been truly blessed by God, and because he had received such a blessing from God that he wanted to repay God by showing Him the honor He deserved. As Christians it is our honor to honor God. It is a never ending circle He honors us with a gift; we use that gift to honor Him, and He honors our faithfulness with more gifts. I am not a name it/claim it preacher, but God has been proven in this fact. The more we honor Him the more we get in return. Not only does our faithfulness honor Him, but others also notice the difference in our lives. Acts 4:13, “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men; they were marveling, and recognized them as having been with Jesus.” It is impossible for us to have an encounter with God, and not have other people notice the difference in our lives!
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Yes, You Can Ministry 