Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
1 Chronicles 22:9
He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 11:3-4
Father, as I read what You declared about Solomon, I see what David shared with him regarding Your will for his life. He would be a man of rest. He would have peace from all his surrounding enemies. And, Your Word declares that it was so. Yet, my mind wonders how he obtained it? Looking elsewhere in the text, my mind today thinks and reasons that Solomon, being as wise as he was, thought to himself that he needed to have marital alliances with the neighboring countries to ensure the peace that You had promised. So, he had 700 wives who were princesses, the daughters of kings. I am sure with this marriages came peace treaties. Rather than trusting You and Your ways to bring peace to pass, he introduced his way. How many times, LORD, have I known what Your will was and did things my way to ensure it? Or instead of just doing it my way I combined with my “trust” in You, a “backup plan” just in case? I realize that is not walking by faith, nor is it truly trusting in You to bring it to pass. And it is so subtle! And when You bless me despite it, I often foolishly believe that what I put in place was pleasing to You! LORD, grant me the spiritual courage and the fervent faith to resist my backup planning, but instead to step out in faith and be who You have called me to be, doing what You have called me to do. I know that my planning without You will lead to sinful results. Help me to be wholly true to You, my God, so that the work that I might do will bring You glory. For in You I live, move, and have my being. I am nothing without You. I turn my heart completely towards You today. Amen.