How do You Acquire Judgment with Wisdom?

1 Kings 3:28b And the people were awed as they realized the great wisdom God had given Solomon to render decisions with justice.

When a father caught his teenage son smoking, he took off his belt. The young man assumed his father was about to give him a whipping but instead his father handed his son the belt. As he handed the belt to him, he told his son that he should go ahead and beat him now because he could not possibly hurt him more than he had just done by smoking.

Many years later, in his fifties, the son said he would never forget the look in his father's eyes and the disappointment he saw in them. The father's actions were effective. The son never smoked again.

While most people have heard of King Solomon, what usually comes to mind is that he was the richest person on the face of the earth. But before God gave him all that wealth, He gave Solomon something else; something Solomon specifically asked for. King Solomon asked God for wisdom to rule his people wisely.

In contrast to the father catching his son smoking, Solomon was presented with a different test. Two mothers came to the King to determine the maternity of a baby. One mother's baby had died during the night and she switched her dead baby with another mother's live baby. They wanted the King's official answer as to the maternity of the child. I feel sure that Solomon prayed to God for wisdom as both mothers were devastated.

Instead of giving the child to one mother, Solomon decreed that the baby be cut in half and each mother was to be given an equal portion. Drastic decision but it provided the answer Solomon needed. The real mother begged Solomon not to kill the baby while the other mother agreed with the King's decision to divide the baby in half. Of course, Solomon awarded the baby to the mother who wanted life for the child. Evidence of the King's great wisdom spread and was awe-inspiring throughout his kingdom.

Doubtfully anyone reading this will be ruling a kingdom but each of us faces challenging judgments like the father who caught his son smoking. We meet with challenges at home, when we are at work and even in church.

It could be that you have a difficult decision that you are faced with today. The same God that made King Solomon the wisest king in history and that showed the father how to deal with his young son smoking, will help you with your decision if you just ask Him. He is already aware of what you are struggling with, so why not ask Him to show you how you need to handle it. It will take a load off your shoulders.