The Courage to Try
The Courage to Try
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. (1 Kings 3:9)
Solomon was King David’s son and upon David’s death, Solomon took the throne. He was now in charge of Israel and responsible for leading the people.
The verse above is something that Solomon said to God when God came to him in a dream. It is clear that the dream was a sign of the things that were most on Solomon’s mind. How could he lead? Where would he gain the skills and the knowledge to make good decisions? How would he know the right thing to do when there were so many factors at play?
This feeling of insecurity and worry is not unusual when someone takes on a new challenge. It makes even more sense when that new challenge is to rule a nation. Nervousness and anxiety come with the territory.
This story is instructive for all of us. Often we fail to take on a new challenge because we feel nervous about how it will go or unsure if we have what it takes to do it right. There may even be something inside us that tells us, “Try, you can do it!” But the louder voice says in our other ear, “Don’t get involved. You may struggle to do it well or just look stupid when you fail. It is safer to sit on the sidelines.”
Solomon was thrust into a role that he felt ill equipped to take on. He prayed for what he needed to do it well. God gave him what he needed to do the work that God had called him to take on.
You may not feel qualified to do certain things that God wants to have done. But you may also sense God saying, “Go ahead. You can do it!” Faith sometimes calls us to risk feeling awkward for a bit in order to do what matters most to God. Remember, if God asks you to do it, you can. Otherwise God would have asked someone else!
