Genie – The Lowedown

2 Chronicles 1

¹Solomon, the son of King David, now took firm control of the kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him very powerful. ²He called together all Israel—the generals and captains of the army, the judges, and all the political and clan leaders. ³Then Solomon led the entire assembly to the hill at Gibeon where God’s Tabernacle was located. This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the LORD’s servant, had constructed in the wilderness. ⁴David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the special tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem. ⁵But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was still at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the LORD. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the LORD. ⁶There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the LORD’s presence and sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on it.

⁷That night God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

⁸Solomon replied to God, “You have been so faithful and kind to my father, David, and now you have made me king in his place. ⁹Now, LORD God, please keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! ¹⁰Give me wisdom and knowledge to rule them properly, for who is able to govern this great nation of yours?”

¹¹God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for personal wealth and honor or the death of your enemies or even a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people, ¹²I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. And I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor such as no other king has ever had before you or will ever have again!” ¹³Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the Tabernacle at the hill of Gibeon, and he reigned over Israel. (2 Chronicles 1:1-13, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Imagine that you acquire an old lamp like the one from the movie Aladdin.

You rub the lamp and out pops a genie, who grants you one wish.

What would you wish for?

There’s an old Twilight Zone episode whose story follows this very premise.

A couple is barely making ends meet as the owners of a second-hand thrift shop. A woman comes in needing money, offering to sell an old wine bottle she found. Though financially strapped themselves, they buy the worthless bottle out of pity and compassion for the woman.

Wanting to recoup his money, the man attempts to clean up the bottle so he can put it on the shelf and sell it. While rubbing the bottle to clean it up, out pops a genie, who grants the couple four wishes.

The first wish is used to fix the broken glass of their main display case, thus proving the genie’s power and ability to grant wishes.

The couple decides to use their 2nd wish on money and they instantly have a million dollars in cash (valued in 1960). They promptly give thousands away to their friends and begin living the good life. But then the IRS shows up, demanding their cut. In the end, the couple has only $5 left of the million they had wished for.

The owner decides that maybe power would be a better thing to wish for, so he asks to be an all-powerful dictator who cannot be voted out of his position.

He’s instantly transformed into Hitler and it’s the final days of World War II. An officer enters the bunker where he’s hiding and offers him a vial of cyanide to commit suicide. At that moment, the shop-owner-turned-Hitler wishes for his old lifestyle back.

The man is instantly transformed back to his shop where things are pretty much exactly like they were before they met the genie, except their display cabinet glass is still intact from the first wish. A few moments later, while sweeping up in front of the display case, the broom handle accidentally hits the case and the glass breaks.

The moral of this episode is “be careful what you wish for” because what we think will bring meaning, purpose and fulfillment often has unforeseen consequences that bring trouble and pain.

It turns out that Solomon, the successor to King David, was faced with this exact scenario early in his reign.

God (not a genie) appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him “what do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you.”

Solomon isn’t given four wishes. He’s given only one wish. Having only one wish heightens the drama as it forces the person to choose from the array of things they desire. What you ultimately wish for is a reflection of your deepest desire and what is most important to you.

What would you have asked for?

If you’re like most people, you probably would have asked for riches, allowing you to quit working and ensuring that you would be financially set for life. Others might ask for fame, enabling them to be loved and adored by millions, feeding their egos and massaging their insecurities.

Still others would ask for long life or power, guaranteeing that their rule would be firmly established for many years.

But Solomon asks for none of these things.

Instead, Solomon asks God to give him wisdom so that he could rule the people under his authority properly, with fairness and justice.

God is so impressed with Solomon’s selfless request that he not only grants his wish. but he also gives him the things he didn’t ask for, namely, riches, power and fame.

Why would God give Solomon what he didn’t ask for?

God gave Solomon what he didn’t ask for because He knew he could be trusted to steward those resources for God’s purposes. Solomon could be trusted because his heart was inclined toward others and not himself.

In man’s mind, the most important commodities are money and power. We think that if we can acquire these things our lives will be better and things will go well for us.

But in God’s economy, wisdom is better than riches or fame. This truth is repeated and emphasized over and over by Solomon throughout Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

Wisdom is not just knowing things. Wisdom is knowing how to apply and implement what you know in a way that is righteous and god-honoring.

Being wise doesn’t guarantee that you’ll become rich, powerful and famous, as Solomon did. But it does greatly improve your chances at a rich and meaningful lifestyle as your choices will follow God’s pattern instead of your own selfish desires. God’s pattern for living is more likely to bring ultimate satisfaction as you avoid the pitfalls that selfish and reckless behavior so often brings.

So what do you think? If you had one wish, what would you wish for?

If you said wisdom, then congratulations are in order. The good news is that you don’t have to wish for it. You can ask for wisdom and God will give it to you. In fact, He has already provided a master-class on wisdom in His word, the Bible.

He promises that if you study this book (the Bible), your life will be on the right path and you will experience His blessings.

If your one wish is for something else, like money, fame, power or an indestructible lifestyle, then be careful what you wish for as the things we think will bring ultimate meaning, purpose and fulfillment often come with unforeseen consequences, liabilities and obligations that lead to struggle and pain.

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Reflection

When growing up and faced with the prospect of three wishes (you can’t wish for more wishes) what were the things you typically wished for?

What do you think is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?

What are some reasons why wisdom would be preferable to have instead of wealth, or fame?

What are the ways you are seeking to become a wise person? How do you think a person acquires wisdom?

Photo by Vika Glitter: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-posing-in-arabic-clothing-with-genie-lamp-15499799/

Mark 14

³²And they came to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” ³³He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be filled with horror and deep distress. ³⁴He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me.”

³⁵He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. ³⁶“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”

³⁷Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. “Simon!” he said to Peter. “Are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? ³⁸Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak.”

³⁹Then Jesus left them again and prayed, repeating his pleadings. ⁴⁰Again he returned to them and found them sleeping, for they just couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.

⁴¹When he returned to them the third time, he said, “Still sleeping? Still resting?* Enough! The time has come. I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Up, let’s be going. See, my betrayer is here!” (Mark 14:32-42, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

A few years ago I was counseling with a student who was having major doubts about God. Not only was this young man from a strong Christian home, but he was a missionary kid, so his family’s commitment to church and to ministry was greater than most. Given his background and family, it was a bit surprising to hear that he was doubting whether God actually existed.

As I probed further, asking questions to determine the source of his doubt, I learned that the seeds were planted way back in high school when he was part of an overseas youth group.

The group was planning to take a missions trip to a neighboring country during a scheduled school break but the trip ended up being canceled due to civil unrest in the other country.

The leaders and the youth were all aware of the dangers and they knew the possibility existed that their trip would not be allowed by the government because of political tensions. So the whole group began praying, EARNESTLY, that God would allow the trip to happen. They prayed that He would work out the circumstances and arrange events so that their small group would be able to take their trip and complete their planned ministry events.

When the event didn’t happen, this student began to question whether God existed. It didn’t make sense to him why God would not allow the trip. After all, wasn’t God concerned about these people who did not know Him? Wouldn’t He WANT them to take the gospel to those who have never heard? We’ve been commanded to GO, and they were planning and preparing to follow God’s command, so it only made sense to them that God would miraculously orchestrate events to make it happen.

But He didn’t. So this student made the conclusion that because God didn’t act in a way that made sense to him, then perhaps God doesn’t exist.

Unfortunately, this line of reasoning is more common than we might think and it underscores a major misunderstanding of the purpose of prayer.

In Mark 14, after the Passover meal but before Jesus is arrested, He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus is in distress and His soul is in anguish as He thinks about what is about to transpire. Verse 35 says that,

“He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.”

In the very next verse, Jesus tells the Father that He knows that “everything is possible with you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me.”

Jesus goes back to the disciples, only to find them sleeping. Verse 39 says that He went back and repeated His pleadings with the Father. Jesus repeats the cycle a 3rd time, each time finding the disciples sleeping before returning and praying and pleading with God the Father regarding His impending suffering.

Jesus is clearly troubled. He said, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.” Jesus clearly pleads for a way to avoid this suffering and He appeals to the Father’s ability to do the impossible. Jesus KNOWS that God can do anything, yet Jesus’ request, is not fulfilled. We know how the story ends and Jesus does not escape the suffering that was so distressing to Him.

So why didn’t the Father honor Jesus’ request? Why does Jesus not get saved from His suffering?

The key to this whole passage is in the words that follow Jesus’ request. Jesus does ask for the suffering to pass Him by, but He follows that up with the words “Yet I want your will, not mine.”

Jesus, in His humanity, was looking for a way to escape what He was about to endure. But in His divinity, He humbly submits to the will of the Father.

The point of prayer is not to get what we want. God is not a genie who is bound to grant our wishes and requests. The purpose of prayer then is for us to align ourselves with God’s will, just as Jesus demonstrates. Sometimes this is difficult because we may not be entirely sure what God’s will is in some situations. But this just provides us with a greater opportunity to trust God for the outcome.

My student friend thought he understood God. He determined that God should act in a certain way in a certain situation. He (and others) even prayed diligently that God would respond in the way that made sense to them. When He didn’t, instead of determining that God must have other plans, or God is bigger than we are and we cannot see and understand all the details as He can, this student made the determination that God must not exist.

I want to be clear that I think it’s ok to ask God to respond to our needs and our requests. There was nothing wrong with the students praying earnestly that God would arrange circumstances so that their trip would happen. The error, at least for my student friend, was in assuming that God was obligated to act in the way he desired. He is not. These students, or at least this one student, failed to understand that while God invites me to be honest and to share my needs and preferences with Him, He is not required to give me what I want. Instead, He invites each of us to trust Him and to align ourselves with His purposes and His plans.

Reflection

When have you viewed prayer as an activity in which you try to convince God to give you what you want?

What do you think is the root reason why people approach prayer as if God is a genie who just emerged from a lamp, or as if He’s a gentlemanly Santa Claus, who desires to make us happy by giving us our most desired gift?

How does this passage where Jesus prays to the Father give you insight and instruction on how we should be approaching and thinking about prayer?

What are some other passages and Scriptures that inform your understanding of prayer and your understanding of the nature of God?

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