"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference."

-Reinhold Niebuhr

And the wisdom to know the difference…Hmmm…How do we choose? As we've been exploring The Serenity Prayer, we have expounded on God's peace and how it can help us to accept those things that we cannot change. We have reflected on the power of God's strength and how He can give us the courage that we need to face those challenges, confront those obstacles, and change those things that we can, even when we don't feel like we are capable of doing so, don't want to deal with the outcome of doing so, or simply don't want the burden of change and the work that it requires. Even if we learn to accept those things that we cannot change and find the courage to change those things that we can, we are still left with that very important question that many of us struggle with concerning what we can or cannot change, and that question is "HOW DO I KNOW?!"

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We spend a lot of time refusing to change the things that we can and even more time investing our time, energy, and strength into trying to change things that we don't have the power to change. What is it in our human disposition that makes us quite often want the opposite? Whether it's a matter of what we do and don't want, what we have or don't have, where we will or won't go,

or what we can or can't do, we often want the contrary. If we have it, we don't want it. If we don't have it, we suddenly need it.

If we can change it, we don't want to. If we can't change it, we'll fight like crazy trying to do so.

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At times, it's intentional. At times, we are conscious and very aware that we are opposing our right to change or not to change. However, there are times in which many of us are simply confused! For many of us, it's not that we don't want to accept what

we can't change, and it's not that we don't want to change the things that we can, but the issue is that we don't know how to navigate change and discern between what is and what is not within our power and control to change.

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At times our heads are full of "Do I stay or do I go?", "Do I hold on or do I let go?", "Do I share my opinion, or do I keep it to myself?", "Do I help or do I take a step back?", "Do I overlook it or confront it?". At times we simply don't know, which is why we need God not just to give us serenity and courage as it concerns how we approach change, but we need Him to GIVE US WISDOM to discern what we do and don't have the power to change. Let's Explore.

What is Wisdom: Where does it Come From?           

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Wisdom is defined as:

• experience, knowledge and careful judgment,

• the quality or state of being wise;

• knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life,

• knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight,

• knowledge of what is proper or reasonable,

• good sense or judgment,

• the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand.

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There are many definitions of wisdom. Quite a few of the definitions of wisdom attribute wisdom to experience. There are those that believe that someone having vast experiences makes them wise. While this may be the case for some, it is not the case for all. Especially if someone's experiences involve them repeatedly making the wrong choices and knowingly choosing to continue to make those choices because regardless of the consequences involved, it appeases them, and they enjoy it. It is for this very reason that while experience can create wisdom within some of us it does not create wisdom within all of us.

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There are many people with vast experiences who quite often don't know if they're coming or going. How many of us have had experiences working with a supervisor or manager that had years of industry experience or had been with the company since its early stages, yet they were incapable of making decisions, leading the team, solving issues, addressing concerns, or resolving conflict? Or how many of us have had academic experiences with professors who had been teaching for what seems like forever and didn't know what they were teaching as much as they knew how to make you read a textbook and use answer keys to get you to teach yourself, because while they had been teaching for a long time and while they might have had teaching experience, they hadn't been retaining the same information that they'd been passing along to you. They taught straight from the book but struggled to explain what the book was saying. The truth is that at times, they simply may not have known. They might have been teaching that particular course for the sole purposes of keeping their tenure and weren't the least bit interested in what they were teaching. Experience does not make everyone wise! Especially those who knowingly reject wisdom because it is easier for them to act upon what they want or what their flesh desires than it is for them to act upon what is good, right, appropriate, moral or just.

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As we've been exploring The Serenity Prayer and reflecting on King Solomon, we know that he was the wisest amongst any king before and after him. God bestowed upon Solomon a wisdom that was unmatched. If we continue to reflect on Solomon and explore the above definitions of wisdom, we definitely see some parallels between some of these definitions of wisdom and many of the traits that King Solomon exhibited. However, we know that Solomon's personal experiences were not one of the components that fueled his wisdom.

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As it concerns Solomon, he was extremely young when he inherited the throne and one of the things that he expressed to God when God appeared to him instructing him to ask for whatever he wanted from Him, was that he felt like he did not know how to carry out his duties. Solomon felt like he was too young to know how to go about carrying out all those things that he suddenly had to oversee upon inheriting the throne. David too shared the concern that Solomon was young and had no experience which is why before David passed, he made all the preparations for the temple that Solomon was to build for God.

As Solomon made his request to God, one of the things that he requested in 1 Kings 3:9 is that he be given a "discerning heart to govern [the] people and to distinguish between right and wrong" (NIV). If we read further, in verse 12, we will find that one of the things that God promises to give Solomon is, "a wise and discerning heart" (NIV).

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Solomon's wisdom was one that was not grounded in his experiences, but his wisdom was one of careful judgment, discernment, distinguishing between right and wrong, good and bad, and acting based on sound judgment. Even greater is the fact that Solomon's wisdom, although not rooted in his own experiences, was rooted in the one who created all things, knows all things, and controls all things. Solomon's wisdom was rooted in God.

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And the Wisdom to Know the Difference          

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The author of The Serenity Prayer didn't just understand the importance of seeking God for peace and courage as we navigate change, but he also understood that along with peace and courage, wisdom was also needed.

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Many of us might have peace, courage, or both, but we still find ourselves perhaps making the wrong choices or stepping out of God's will whether intentionally or unintentionally because we are lacking the wisdom, knowledge, and discernment that we need to make the right decision, choose the right path, or approach change in the manner that we need to.

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Many of us might find ourselves in a place in which we have let go and are trusting God because we have found peace with "that particular thing" that only God can change for us. But at the same time, we might still be falling short because while we are trusting God to handle "that particular thing" for us, there may be something else that surrounds us that is hindering our ability

to focus on God and do what He is requiring us to do.

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There may be a change that we need to make apart from what we are already trusting God for but we're missing the mark because quite often we don't examine our full selves as it concerns our relationship with God as much as we handle things on

a situational basis. We tend to base our relationship with God on the current circumstances that we are facing. Therefore, while we may be trusting God with that thing that occurred this week, what happened to that thing from last month that we have yet

to move forward with correcting?

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As we discussed Solomon's downfall on last week, Solomon had such amazing things going for himself. Solomon was following both his father's and God's instructions as it concerned everything besides idolatry. Solomon built the temple. He completed it carrying out every direction that David had left him. Solomon acknowledged God in all that he did. Solomon had an admiration for God. Solomon understood the glory and greatness of God. Solomon understood the awe of the power and might of God.

Yet, with all the things that he got right, he allowed one thing to cause him to lose the entire kingdom (except for that one tribe that God had purposed). Solomon gave in to idolatry. Solomon's story should cause us to reflect on the power of our sin and our desire to both choose and dwell in it.

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                         "From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard

                         of his wisdom." -1 Kings 4:34 (NIV)

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                         "King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought                               audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart."  -1 Kings 10:23-24 (NIV)

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Solomon had unfathomable wisdom. The scriptures don't state that he had more riches and wisdom than the kings of a particular nation, a particular continent, or a particular province, but the scriptures state that he had more riches and wisdom than ALL THE KINGS OF THE EARTH! Can you grasp that?

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And even with having it all, the prestige, the honor, the admiration of the world, which was all given to him by God, it was not enough to make him suppress his love for those foreign women who worshipped other gods. How can someone get everything else right and yet struggle with that one thing that when compared to everything else, doesn't seem important at all?

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Well, isn't that the case for many of us? We all sin in some way, shape, or form. There are many of us who sin across the board, but then there are those of us that become repeat offenders, habitually acting upon that "one sin" that gets us every time!

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The thing about sin is that although sin is powerful, it is not more powerful than God. However, what creates the greater issue as we partake in our sins, is when we choose not to change. The greater dilemma arises when we neglect to detach from that sin and take a different path. The greater danger occurs when we refuse to take a different approach because we find ourselves loving the sin that we're in.

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God knows that none of us are capable of living our entire lives without partaking in sin of some sort which is why He gives us grace, mercy, and salvation. God knew David would fall short but that did not stop God from making David his "CHOSEN" king. God knew that Abraham would lie but it did not stop Him from sending Abraham away from where he was to journey to a place that he knew not to become the father of many nations. God allowed Saul to persecute the saints knowing all along that He would convert him into a great apostle whose transformation would encourage and inspire us all.

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Because God is greater than sin, and his gift of salvation covers our sins, God is not going to stop using us simply because we mess up. What becomes our detriment is when we choose to give sin power over us. While sin has no power over God, we give sin power over us when we choose to not turn away from it. Solomon, had he changed what needed to be changed could have kept the entire kingdom, and the house of David would have remained firm over all of Israel, not just Judah.

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Solomon had a desire to do many great things for God, but he did not have the will to steer from idolatry. We must understand that regardless of how we sin against God, by default we will also attach the sin of disobedience to whatever that core sin is because whenever we sin, we are also disobeying God because at that point we are partaking in something that God has already told us not to.

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Solomon's love for foreign women led him into idolatry. However, it was his choice to worship their gods. The Lord had already given instructions to the Israelites telling them not to intermarry with women from certain nations because they would turn the Israelites' hearts that married them toward the gods that they served. However, even after intermarrying, Solomon could have still remained faithful to God. He could have chose to marry these women and never bow to any god except for his own, but he did not. His idolatry did not just cause him to disobey, but it caused him to turn his heart away from God.

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Even in our sins, God knows our heart. He knows if we are remorseful or not. He knows if we are apologetic or not. He knows if we have a desire to change and turn back to Him or not. We might not always get it right and follow God wholeheartedly or obey every command, but He will always give us a chance to make it right. God gave Solomon a chance to make it right.

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Solomon was not the first to intermarry with a foreign woman, and he most definitely was not the last. If we read the book of Ezra, we will find that this was a huge issue amongst the Israelites so much so that Ezra cried out to God about it. As a result of Ezra's prayer in Ezra 10:2-5, we then read the following:

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            Then Shekaniah [Shechaniah] son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful

            to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.

            Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with

            the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up;                  this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it. So Ezra rose up and put the leading

            priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath (NIV).

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Now if we think that this was an easy task, it wasn't. Ezra 10 highlights the tediousness of making this change. While some happily followed suit, there were some who opposed. Also to be noted is that the individuals who had married foreign wives were questioned. Upon being questioned, some of their wives decided to convert and turned to God but there were those

whose wives refused to convert and were therefore sent away. Ezra 10:18-43 list all of those who were guilty of intermarrying, because their wives would not convert.

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If we explore Ezra 9 and 10, we will find that even the priests, leaders, and officials were guilty of intermarrying. Those who taught others the law and set the expectation that the law should be upheld were in violation of the law. They might have followed other commands, but when it came to the law not to intermarry, they disregarded it. Although they had failed God in this area by the multitudes and although they had already married these women, some even having children, Shekaniah had

the wisdom and the conviction to recognize what could be changed.

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Ezra is the one who cried out to God about the fact that far too many had gone astray by marrying women who served foreign gods, but Shekaniah was the one to suggest that a plan be put into action to correct the decision that they made when they decided to disobey the command of God.

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Shekaniah understanding the grace of God and wanting to do what was right was brave enough to admit the wrongdoing of the people and speak hope into them by letting Ezra know that it was not too late to do right by God. He urged Ezra that they should make a covenant before God to send away all the women who served other gods along with their children. Shekaniah understood that this was not easy for Ezra to take on. Ezra would have to stand up to all of the men by the multitude and order them to send their wives away. Shekaniah encouraged Ezra to "RISE UP!" because it was Ezra's job to bring this change about. Shekaniah told Ezra that they would support him and then utters that infamous word found in The Serenity Prayer. Shekaniah tells Ezra to take "COURAGE" and get it done!

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Shekaniah understood that Ezra taking this on not knowing how the people would respond, how it'll work, or if it'll work might cause him to be hesitant or perhaps even fearful. Therefore, he spoke a word into Ezra to let him know that it could be done, but Ezra had to find the courage to do it. Shekaniah assured Ezra that those who feared God would back him. And Ezra "ROSE Up!" and went forward with the plan starting with the priests. He made sure that the leaders were the first partakers because they were the ones who had to set the example.

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In reflecting on Ezra and Shekaniah's bold stand and in reflecting on all the men who had to make the tough decision of letting go of their wives who were foreigners if their wives chose not to turn to God, shows us that Solomon had he wanted to, could have done the same. Solomon could have been influential in turning his wives toward God, but he instead allowed them to turn him toward theirs.

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As we focus on the actions of Ezra and Shekaniah as it relates to Ezra 9 and 10 and their turning the Israelites faithfulness back toward God and then reflect on Solomon's decision to follow the gods of his wives, we will find that not only do we need God to give us peace, courage, and wisdom, but we also need Him to give us the "WILL" to change what we can.

Solomon's Wise Ruling: God's Wisdom Revealed (Don't Ignore It!)    

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Many of us know Solomon's story of The Wise Ruling found in 1 Kings 3:16-28, which is one of the first stories that highlights Solomon's wisdom and his ability to discern, and exercise judgment. In case you are unfamiliar with this story, Let's Briefly Recap:

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Solomon was faced with a very peculiar and complex dilemma. Two women stood before him, both harlots who lived in the same house together. They both conceived and gave birth to a son. A dilemma arises because the child of one of the women passes. The mother of the child that had passed switches babies with her roommate while the roommate is asleep. According to the roommate whose son was still alive; while she was asleep, the other woman whose son had passed away took her deceased child and placed him at the bosom of the sleeping woman and took the sleeping women's child who was still alive and placed him at her own bosom. When the sleeping woman awoke, she realized that the deceased child at her bosom was not her son but was instead the son of her roommate and that her child was the one that was still alive whom the roommate had taken and tried to pass off as her own.

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These two women stood in front of Solomon going back and forth, each denying being the mother of the deceased child and both proclaiming to be the mother of the child that was still alive. Then1 Kings 3:24-28, reads as such:

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             Then [Solomon] said, 'Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the

             living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.' The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved

             out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!' But the other

             said, 'Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!' Then the king gave his ruling: 'Give the living baby to the

             first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.' When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the

             king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice (NIV).

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We don't just need wisdom to discern between what we can and can't change, but we also need wisdom to discern how to carry out those things that we can. Solomon knew that the woman who refused to have the child cut in half was the real mother. If we reflect on it, who would go to court to fight for their living child only to agree to have him cut in half so that both women would be given an equal share? The one who agreed to cut the child had already suffered the loss of her son, so she had no compassion toward saving the child of the other women. Her attitude was that they should both be without child.

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Many of us probably would have struggled with how to make this ruling. We often see everyday cases concerning custodial rights, some involving stories of children that may have been switched at birth, some involving battles between birth parents and adoptive parents, and some involving custodial rights between parents or other guardians. And quite often we may not agree with the judge's ruling. Quite often we might struggle to understand what the judge or the system was thinking. At times, the courts themselves don't know how to rule. But here it was Solomon, with no law degree, no textbook, no jury, or no previous cases to compare this dilemma to, being able to make this wise and unheard-of ruling.

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And the method that he used to perform his ruling was indeed clever. What was even more profound is that people did not just consider Solomon to be wise, the scriptures state that people held him in awe because they "saw that he had wisdom from

God to administer justice". Not just Solomon, but the people themselves both knew and understood that it was from God in which Solomon's wisdom derived. And this is where we must stop and reflect and differentiate between natural wisdom and Godly wisdom.

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Solomon's ability to make this ruling had nothing to do with him having had experience with cases as such, nor did it come from the advice or counsel of his team, staff, or anyone that David might have put in place to be of assistance to Solomon. But this was sound judgment. This was sound discernment. This was no other than God working through Solomon. There are plenty of people who have natural wisdom that is of benefit to themselves and others. However, God's wisdom is without flaw. God's wisdom is all-knowing. God's wisdom is based on the definitive truth.

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Job 12:13 states, "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his" (NIV). Someone with natural wisdom might give you advice or counsel based on who they are, what they've experienced or have seen in the life of others. It may not apply to you at all or help you in any way, shape, or form. When God gives us wisdom it is based on who He is, who He knows we are, and what He knows we need. The wisdom that He gives us is based on His knowledge of the situation that we are facing, the decision that we need to make, or the change that we may or may not need to make. When God gives us wisdom, He has a complete and total understanding of all sides of the story, while we only see what's in front of us or what we are being told.

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                       "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."

                        -Proverbs 2:6 (NIV)

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                       "My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion."

                        -Proverbs 3:21 (NIV)

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The unfailing wisdom like that of King Solomon can only come from God and God alone. It is so intriguing to read the Proverbs and to reflect on how wise of an individual Solomon was, yet he let go of wisdom. Throughout the scriptures we quite often read that "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Psalm 111:10, Job 28:28, Proverbs 9:10-NIV). In reflecting on both the ideology that the beginning of wisdom is fearing the Lord along with Proverbs 3:21 above, Solomon chose to abandon wisdom within the very moment that he decided to turn his heart away from God.

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In the proverbs, Solomon warned his very own son not to let wisdom and understanding out of his sight and to protect and maintain sound judgment and discretion, but Solomon himself let go of that sound judgment when he chose to no longer fully devote himself or his heart to God. How could someone so wise do something so foolish? It is easy to consider this wise king foolish but how often do we find our very own selves on the side of fools because we chose to put our wants above God's instruction, commands, and will for us?

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It's easy to sit back and read Solomon's narrative and judge him but how often have we chosen to ignore wisdom to appease ourselves? It's easy to judge Solomon's story because we can read the books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles and sum up Solomon's life and point out the mistakes that he made, but what about us?

If we took the time to sum up our own lives, we might find that we too have allowed ourselves to be the friend of bad decisions, wrong paths, and disobedience to God! We all have things that we perhaps allowed to take us out of the will of God because we did not want to change what we could, wanted to keep fighting against what we couldn't change, and refused to let go of people and things so that we could fully hold on to God.

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Why Have Thou Forsaken Me?: The Wisdom of Separation   

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As Jesus hung on that cross feeling the weight of the world and the burden of all our sins past, present, and future, feeling rejected, abandoned, and completely separated from God, he yelled, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

(Matthew 27:46, NIV). And this is of great significance to our discussion.

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If we reflect on it, part of the reason that Jesus felt forsaken is because he had to know what it was like to be separated from God due to sin, just as any other person that sins would have felt. While on that cross Jesus was not just the Son of God but he was a sinner by the plan and purposes of his Father. And because Jesus was the ransom for our sins and because God is holy and does not and cannot dwell in sin, that same God that was always with Jesus had to separate Himself from him, because while on that cross, Jesus WAS FULL OF SIN!

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At all costs, God had to separate himself from his very own son whom He knew was completely perfect, blameless, and innocent. But because Jesus was the sacrifice that would save us all, Jesus was guilty as charged by God. It was not the charge of the people, the chief priests, and the elders whose verdict sent Jesus to the cross because God knew that their claims against Jesus were false, but God allowed it because God used the earthly ruling of those that hated Jesus to carry out Jesus' spiritual purpose and God's ultimate plan for both His Son and us.

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If God could separate Himself from His very own son whom He knew was innocent in order to fulfill His promise to us, why is it so hard for us to do the same and separate ourselves from what we need to in order to fulfill God's purpose and will for our lives? Why do we refuse to separate ourselves from those things that bind us and turn our hearts from God?

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Solomon had so many wives that he could have started a nation of his own. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines and would not separate himself from those that served other gods in order to keep his promise to his father and his heart toward God! God had BUT ONE SON and He had to separate Himself from that son so that He could save us. This is perhaps one of the reasons that God becomes angry with us when we REFUSE TO LET GO or SEPARATE OURSELVES from things that take

our focus off of Him, lead us into sin, or cause us to go astray.

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God gave up His Son to save us from our sins and had him to endure all kinds of torture and physical, spiritual, and emotional distress. And yet we don't want to separate ourselves from the things that lead us into the very sins that His son paid the price for.  

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Solomon might have thought that he could not do without these foreign women, but God knew otherwise. The richest and wisest king in the entire earth who God had literally given everything, would not separate himself or give up something for his love of God! What about us?

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Solomon had no desire to change. He knew the consequences. He was wise enough to discern what they meant, but HE CHOSE not to change what he could! It doesn't matter how old Solomon was, it was not too late for him to make a change. If God took care of him as a young king and helped him to successfully establish his throne with no woman attached to his side

in marriage, this same God could have kept him in his old age had he chose to let go of those women who sought to turn him away from God. This is why Ezra and Shekaniah's bold move that we read about in Ezra 10 is so profound. In realizing what

they as a people had done, they worked to turn it around.

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Proverbs 29:1 states, "Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy" (NIV). If we explore the scriptures, we will find that no matter how much God rebuked the Israelites for their wickedness, their idolatry, their going astray, THEY REFUSED to do right! They would cry out and do enough to get themselves out of trouble and fall right back into their same sinful ways. Even with God giving Solomon warning, he did not heed the warnings. Even with Solomon understanding the consequences of what would happen if he went astray and turned his heart away from God, he did not take heed.

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What is so interesting about all of us is not only do we not want to separate ourselves from the people and things that we love in order to remain faithful to God, but we don't even want to give God the things that we don't want.

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There are tests, trials, situations, and circumstances that we absolutely have no desire to have or handle, and God constantly tells us to cast our cares upon Him and to place our burdens upon Him, and we don't even want to do that. We would much rather remain burdened trying to figure out how to approach what we are facing than to give it to God.

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It's as if we are sitting at the dinner table with God with a plate of things that don't look good, don't smell good, neither do they taste good, and God is sitting there hungry asking us to give Him what's on our plate because while we hate what's on our plate, God loves it because He can make it useful. Yet, we reach right over Him and throw our plate in the trash when He had His hands stretched out to take it from us. Can you see it now?

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Instead of giving those things that we don't want to God, we'd rather push them off to the side until we can figure out how to handle them our way, to our benefit, in our timing, instead of trusting that God can handle them for us.

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Can you see how we at times make God feel unappreciated? Can you see how we at times treat God as if He is a God who is unworthy? Can you see how we at times treat God as if He is incapable and incompetent? We don't want to give the Man the things that we love neither do we want to give Him the things that we hate. We completely overlook and devalue God whose worth cannot be changed or decreased, yet we treat Him as such when we keep pushing Him aside, when we keep trying to

do it without Him, when we keep thinking that He won't work the situation out in the way that best fits us, when we refuse to separate ourselves from the things that we love that hinder us, and when we won't allow Him to carry those burdens for us that we don't love, because we don't trust Him with them.

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Which Way do I Go?               

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"So that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." 1 Corinthians 2:5 (NIV)

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What we fail to recognize is that when we are trying to figure out which way to go or what decision to make, God may have previously given us the answer in the form of an instruction or command. But because we quite often ignore God's commands by allowing our flesh to guide us, we neglect the instruction (the answer), not realizing that the wisdom that we are searching for rests in the commands of God.

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God had already commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with foreign women because they served other gods and would turn them astray and that command in itself was God's way of already guiding them, but the issue is that we tend to see commands as "WHAT WE CAN'T DO" instead of looking at them as "WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING"!

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Instead of looking at it from the standpoint of God said, "I CAN'T INTERMARRY" and rebelling against it, the response should have been "I SHOULD KEEP GOD'S COMMAND and marry someone who serves my God and not allow anyone to turn me away from Him".  Instead of seeing what God commands of us as a bunch of things that we "CAN'T DO" focus on "WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING!". If we reflect on what God commands of us as things that strip our freedom and make us miserable, we will constantly and consistently rebel against His instructions and commands.

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If we were to be honest, intermarrying in itself was not the problem, but the greater concern was that the Israelites' marriage to these women caused many of them to turn their hearts from God. Whether it was one of Solomon's foreign wives who tried to get him to turn his heart from God or whether it was a wife who served his same God and tried to get Solomon to go astray, his loyalty should have remained with God. Whether it was a parent, sibling, relative, friend, or close companion, no one should have been able to separate Solomon from his love and obedience to God. The reality is that it happens, but the truth is that WE HAVE A CHOICE!

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If we examine Job 2:9-10, we read the following, "His wife said to him, 'Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!' He replied, 'You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (NIV). We don't know anything about Job's wife. We don't know if she too served God and had simply become frustrated with Job's situation. We don't know if she served another god. All we know is that she was over it and told Job to curse God and die. She was telling

Job to forget about God, turn his back on God, and put himself out of his misery. However, Job did not allow her to turn him away from the God that he served and trusted.

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Paul did not allow those who persecuted him nor did he allow his troubles, to turn him away from the God that he served 

(2 Corinthains 6).

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When David had a chance to kill Saul, he did not allow his men to persuade him to go astray. David remained loyal to Saul because he acknowledged Saul as the one whom God had appointed. And because David honored God, he was not going to allow anyone to persuade him to harm Saul even if it might have seemed beneficial for him to do so (1 Samuel 24).

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Whether it be a significant other, friend, co-worker, companion, teammate, classmate, or be it someone that we don't personally know, our first obligation is to God. We will all find ourselves perhaps being persuaded by others to turn away from God or His will and purpose for us, BUT WE MUST REMAIN FIRM!

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We must realize that there are many ways in which we turn away from God. Turning away from God does not just involve idolatry and worshipping other gods. Each day of our lives, we are faced with things that persuade and provoke us to turn away from God. It could be someone getting us to partake in a sin that we know God has previously delivered us from. It could be someone trying to convince us to do something that God has already commanded us not to do. Furthermore, it does not have

to necessarily be something that is of a sinful nature that causes us to turn away from God or what He has commanded of us.

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God could speak to you and tell you that no matter what happens, not to quit your job. But then along comes a co-worker who suddenly shares "inside information" with you telling you that everyone is going to get laid off. You pray about it and God again tells you not to quit. Before you know it, another co-worker comes along and shares the same information with you and tells you that whoever quits will receive a severance package but not to share this "inside information" with anyone because the company is not announcing it yet.

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Because you don't want to be left without a job nor the potential severance pay, you listen to your co-workers instead of listening to God and you do exactly what God told you not to do. YOU QUIT YOUR JOB! After you quit the job, you find out that you were up for a promotion and your co-worker wanted the position that you were going to be offered, so they plotted against you along with the other co-worker to pretend to give you "inside information" about something that was not true knowing that you would take the bait because you trusted them. And now there you are without a job or a severance package. Most importantly, there you are having turned away from what God instructed you to do because you buckled under pressure. There you are having gone astray because you obeyed man instead of obeying God. Quitting your job is a not a sin at all, but disobeying God is. Even if you did not have wisdom, had you obeyed God you would have STILL BEEN SAFE! Even if we don't consider ourselves wise, or if we lack knowledge and discernment, obeying God and doing as He commands us becomes our shield.

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There are so many ways in which we can unintentionally fall astray without realizing it. We can turn against God by reacting in a way that is not pleasing to Him. We can allow someone to rile us up and before we know it, we have stepped out

of the will of God and wreaked havoc on that individual that was consequential.

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It is easy to judge Solomon for the way in which he turned his back on God but because navigating life sometimes burdens us, stresses us, applies pressure on us, and takes us by surprise, we can within a blink of an eye find ourselves going astray just like Solomon did, but we must know that WE CAN ALWAYS TURN BACK!

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It is important that we look to God as our source. It is important that even when we receive earthly wisdom from the people in our lives, we still seek God's counsel. We must also remember that at the end of the day, God's power will always be greater than the wisdom of man. Man may have wisdom and knowledge that benefits us and may help us in many ways, but we must not trust in their wisdom more than we trust in the power of God.

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Regardless of what your supervisor says, regardless of what your teacher or guidance counselor says, regardless of what your spiritual leader of prayer partner says, regardless of what your relatives or significant other says, regardless of what your friends say, GOD'S POWER SUPERSEDES and REMAINS HIGHER than anything that you will ever be told.

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God most definitely will send earthly beings into our lives to help to steer, lead, counsel, and guide us, but our full hope and trust must remain fixed on God. We can be thankful for those individuals that God places in our lives and the guidance and support that God allows them to provide to us, but we must not place them higher in assurance than God.

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There are many that depended on the wisdom of Solomon, yet Solomon was not without flaw. He was human, which means that he was capable of mistakes. This is why although we may admire and hold people in high regard, if and when they do mess up or go astray, we must not allow it to cause us to become discouraged thinking that because they messed up and they were highly skilled, highly anointed, highly intelligent, or extremely successful we have no hope left. We cannot allow their mistake to become our burden or our discouragement because although they messed up, their story is not over, and neither is ours. But most importantly, we must not forget that GOD WILL STILL BE THERE and GOD WILL ALWAYS BE GOD!

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Can I Change It? (Will You Follow God?)           

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"When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?' The Lord answered him, 'Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.” -2 Samuel 5:17-19 (NIV)

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"But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,  and she said to Abraham, 'Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.' The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, 'Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” -Genesis 21:9-13 (NIV)

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Wisdom is not just about us being faced with a decision and then simply being able to discern which path to take, but wisdom also rests in our ability to seek God and obey the commands and instructions that He gives to us. In 2 Samuel 5, we find David in a position in which after officially becoming king, the Philistines are ready to attack him with full force.

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Now we know that David was a warrior like no other. David was strong in skill and valor because God made him as such. When David went against Goliath, he knew that God would give him victory over Goliath. David was brave, strong, powerful, confident, and favored by God.​ David was not only king, but he held high rank in the army. Before he officially stepped onto the throne, he was fighting battles for Israel.

However, although it was David's job to fight, he never got too full of himself or his own victories that he stopped seeking God for counsel. Although having a track record of being victorious, David still sought God and inquired of him, "What should I do?" David understood that no matter how successful he was in battle, his skill was nothing without God's hand upon him and without God guiding him. 

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If we continue to read the narrative, David follows God's instructions and sets out to fight against the Philistines. Upon pursuing the Philistines, we find them once again being spread out in an attack against David and we read the following in 2 Samuel 5:22-25:

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            Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, and he                      answered, 'Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. As soon

            as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has                  gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.' So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down

            the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer (NIV).

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We see the David sought God's counsel on what he should do and even as he went and did as God instructed of him, in the midst of pursuing the Philistines he still took the time to inquire of God, "What should I do?".

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David did not just seek God, act upon what God had instructed of him, and then decide to approach it his way, but he continually sought God for direction and acted accordingly. David sought God concerning if he should step into the battle and while amidst the battle, he sought God as to how to maneuver while in it. What about us?

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How many times do we find ourselves asking God for wisdom to make a decision only to do what He says but then put our own spin on the way in which we approach it? How many times do we ask God for wisdom and then decide to go our own way or redirect our own path when things appear unconquerable? There are times in which God will send us into battle with specific details as to how to approach it and at times God will send us into the battle without the specifics. But when we allow His Spirit to rest within us and act upon it, even without all the details, the plan, or the specifics, we will not lose!

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If we read Genesis 21, we find Abraham in distress. The consequence of him allowing Sarah to persuade him to take matters into their own hands and conceive a child with Sarah's slave Hagar was causing more drama than they had bargained for. Sarah sees nothing but trouble ahead because very early on, Ishmael had already began mocking Isaac, whom is the child that God had promised them.

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Knowing that Abraham is distressed, God speaks to him. This shows us that God giving us wisdom, direction, discernment, or guidance is not going to always come in the form of us inquiring something of Him, but because God knows all things, and He knows what's in our hearts, He will speak to us and tell us what to do when our hearts are too distressed to ask and when our worries are too heavy to even want an answer. Because God knows what we need and when we need it, He will tell us which way to go even when we are not praying about it or inquiring direction or answers from Him.

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We only know what the scriptures state. It could have been very much possible that Abraham in his heart was seeking God for an answer or a clue as to what to do, we don't  know. But what we see is God stepping in and saying, "This is the way."  If we continue reading, we see that Abraham did not inquire anything of God as to how to go about doing what God had instructed, he simply carried it out. Genesis 21:14-19 reads as follows:

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            Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her                        shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

            When the water in the skin was  gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down

            about a bowshot away, for she thought, 'I cannot watch the boy die.' And as she sat there, she began to sob. God

            heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, 'What is the matter, Hagar?

            Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will

            make him into a great nation.' Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin                  with water and gave the boy a drink (NIV).

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We see that Abraham trusted God. God spoke and Abraham acted. Abraham had reservations about what Sarah had told him to do, but when God told him to go forth and do it, he followed suit. He had to have peace with the fact that he had to send Ishmael and Hagar away, and trust that God would do as He had promised. This time around, we see that Abraham was not as quick to act upon what Sarah was telling him to do, but he waited until he heard from God before he did what Sarah was pressuring him to do. Abraham did not try to figure it out, search for an alternative plan, or come up with a meticulous strategy. He got up the next day and sent Hagar and Ishmael away. We don’t know all that was going on in Abraham's head or his heart. We don't know if he spent the prior night praying to God or if God gave him further instruction. All we know is that he followed God's instructions.

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Abraham had to separate himself from the son that he loved in order to remain in alignment with the will that God had for the

son that He had promised him. And in Abraham doing so, we see something that some people might get, and others may not see the significance of. In Abraham doing the hard thing and letting go of Ishmael, we see that God provided. God did not allow Ishamel and Hagar to become a fatality, but God kept them. He provided them with what they needed just when it seemed as

if all hope was gone and a road to safety did not exist. God did not leave Hagar and Ishamel. God did not forsake them. God did not allow their well to run dry.

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Something else that many of us probably disregard is the fact that Abraham having to separate from Ishmael was preparing him for having to let go of Isaac. At times we will find that those things that hurt may be preparing us in a way that causes us to wholly trust God when we experience our next season of pain and having to let go.

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In reflecting on both David and Abraham, we find that the greatest act of wisdom that we could ever portray lies in our ability to trust God and act upon what He instructs us to do.

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Tailor It: Building on the Foundation          

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The Serenity Prayer is indeed powerful. It challenges us to seek God as our source. It challenges us to recognize that we cannot navigate life without God. It pushes us to face the things that we don't want to face and to be strong and brave enough to tackle the things that we have the power to confront, change, and conquer.

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However, in exploring King Solomon and others like King Saul, Apostle Paul, David, and Abraham, and even in reflecting on ourselves, peace is important, courage is beneficial, and wisdom is needed but even with having all those things, there are two other factors that are needed if we are to put The Serenity Prayer into action and that is "TRUST" AND "WILL"!

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Even when we find the peace, the courage, and have the wisdom, when we don't trust God and when we don't want to surrender to His will or have the will to go forth using the peace, courage, and wisdom that He has given us, we can find ourselves destroying an entire kingdom for the love of our own desires. As I have reflected on The Serenity Prayer I realize that we all might have things that we will need to add to it in order to build upon it and tailor it so that it fits into our lives in a way that is personal so that we can make the changes that we need to make both concerning our lives and the lives of others. And in reflecting on this I have added to the Serenity Prayer as follows:

            "God, Grant Me The Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

            The Courage to change the things I can,…

            The Wisdom to know the difference."

            The Will to act upon whatever you instruct,

            and A Heart that Trusts that your plan is what's best for me!

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How will you tailor The Serenity Prayer to fit it into your life so that You Can Go Forward and Create Change? The foundation is there, but you must have the "Will" to "Build"!

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