What Do You Ask for When People Depend on You?

Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people.

2 Chronicles 1:10

Read 2 Chronicles 1. Focus on verses 7 through 12. Solomon's opportunity sounds almost limitless. God invites him to ask what he should receive. The young king answers by naming the people he must govern. His request grows out of their need for sound judgment. He could ask for relief from the difficulty of leadership. He could ask for a longer reign or an advantage over enemies. Instead, he recognizes that the position already given to him exceeds his ability to carry it well. Israel belongs to God, and ruling God's people requires more than royal confidence. That order matters. Before Solomon speaks of what he wants to possess, he considers what others will experience under his decisions. Wisdom is valuable because people will live with the results of his judgments. His prayer has faces behind it, even though the chapter does not name them individually. God grants wisdom and also extraordinary wealth and honor. This particular answer to Israel's king is not a bargain that guarantees wealth to everyone who asks unselfishly. We miss the heart of the passage if we use Solomon's request as an indirect way of getting what he did not ask for. Most of us will never govern a nation. We will still make decisions that someone else cannot easily escape. A parent chooses how to respond to a child's mistake. A supervisor decides whether a new employee receives training or a reprimand. An adult child helps sort out a parent's practical needs. In each case, another person's well being depends partly on our judgment. Our prayers can reveal whether we see that person clearly. We may ask to be respected when we need to become more understandable. We may ask for an easier conversation when we need to learn enough to conduct it fairly. We may ask God to make everyone cooperative before asking whether our expectations are reasonable. Solomon begins with the weight of responsibility. He does not pretend that being chosen makes him automatically capable. There is dignity in admitting that the people entrusted to us need more than our instincts. Before your next decision affecting someone else, picture the ordinary day that person will have after you make it. Let that picture shape what you ask God to give you. Put It into Practice Before making a household or work decision, write down who will carry its inconvenience. Ask what information from that person you still need before deciding.

When you pray about responsibility, whose experience receives the most attention, yours or the people depending on you?

God of this people, enlarge my concern beyond whether I appear capable. Give me judgment that takes seriously the lives affected by my choices. Help me ask for what their care requires. Amen.