She Brought Her Difficult Questions

She communed with him of all that was in her heart.

2 Chronicles 9:1

Read 2 Chronicles 8 and 9. Focus on 9:1 through 8. The queen of Sheba has heard reports of Solomon. She travels with wealth and an impressive company, but the account places another kind of offering at the center of her visit. She brings difficult questions and speaks with him about what is in her heart. Her visit is more than admiration from a distance. She wants to examine what she has heard. Solomon answers her questions, and she sees the ordering of his household and worship. She leaves with a fuller understanding than the report could give her. The royal wealth described in these chapters is exceptional. It is not a promise that wisdom will furnish every believer's life with luxury. What we can notice without imitating the spectacle is the seriousness of the queen's inquiry. She does not let the magnificence of the visit replace the questions that brought her there. Religious settings can sometimes leave us impressed but still confused. We know that everyone respects the speaker. We hear confident language and see that the room responds. A question rises in our mind, but we put it aside because asking might interrupt the atmosphere or reveal what we do not know. Admiration and understanding are different experiences. One can occur without the other. A truthful message deserves more than the appearance of agreement from people who have not yet understood it. Perhaps you wonder how two passages fit together. Perhaps a phrase you have heard for years has never been explained. Perhaps you can repeat a teaching but cannot describe what it means. Those are questions worth bringing, with humility and a real desire to learn. Not every question receives a complete answer in one conversation. Solomon's exceptional wisdom does not mean a present teacher can resolve every mystery. A trustworthy teacher can say what is known, where interpretations differ, and what deserves further study. Honest limits serve understanding better than an impressive invention. The queen gives herself the opportunity to discover more than she knew from a report. You can do that on a smaller scale. Read the passage before a discussion. Put your question into an actual sentence. Ask for the explanation rather than pretending a familiar word has already supplied one. You do not dishonor wisdom by wanting to understand it. Sometimes the most respectful response is to take the message seriously enough to bring the question you have been keeping politely out of view. Put It into Practice Write one sincere question about that teaching. Read its biblical passage, then ask a trustworthy teacher for an explanation that addresses the question directly rather than simply repeating the familiar phrase.

What teaching can you repeat fluently but would struggle to explain in your own words?

God of wisdom, give me humility to ask what I do not understand. Lead me to careful teachers who can explain without pretending to know everything. Let my interest in truth grow beyond admiration for confident speech. Amen.