Ethiopian fresco of the Queen of Sheba on her way to Jerusalem, shown riding with sword under her saddle and a lance in her hand.

This morning I was reading from a book in the Bible that I don’t usually read from, 1 Chronicles 9: 1-12 (NKJV). But the Lord spoke to my heart and encouraged me greatly from this passage, and I want to share my treasure find with you. First, I will post the entire passage for you to read, and then share insights that uplifted my heart.

The background of this passage is that King Solomon had finished building the temple where the people of Israel could worship God, and had dedicated it to the Lord. Before building the temple, Solomon had a dream where the Lord visited him and asked him what he desired to have, and said that He would give it to Solomon.

Solomon chose to ask for wisdom and knowledge to rule God’s people, and did not ask to be rich, or for honor or the life of his enemies. God was pleased and granted his request, and said that in addition, He would also give him riches, wealth, and honor, like no one else before had or afterward would have.

The Queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon’s wisdom and came to visit him to test him. Sheba was an ancient kingdom in a location that was somewhere between southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheba).

“Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.

So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.

Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However, I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes, and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard.

Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has loved Israel, He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Also the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought album wood and precious stones.

And the king made walkways of the algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as those seen before it in the land of Judah.

Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.”

The first thing that stood out to me in this story was that King Solomon’s wisdom was not his own. He had asked God for wisdom, and God had given it to him, very pleased that Solomon had not prayed for something selfish like wealth or to kill his enemies. James 1: 5 says that if you lack wisdom, to ask God for it and He will give it to you generously.

Secondly, the gifts in Solomon made room for him, and became a great blessing to God, Solomon, the people of Israel, and to many others. He was known for his wisdom, even to a queen in a foreign land. Psalm 2: 8 says, “Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.” God wants to use our gifts that He has so richly deposited into us, to make room for us, to expand His kingdom, and to glorify His son Jesus.

I believe that King Solomon is symbollic of our King, Jesus, and that Queen Sheba represents the Church, The Bride of Christ. The queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon’s fame and wisdom, and she went to visit him to ask him hard questions, to “test him.” Do you have questions in your heart for God? Do you ever feel like testing Him and asking Him some hard questions?

She also traveled far to see King Solomon. How far are you willing to go to meet with and obey Jesus? Are you willing to give up the comfort of your own home, and go where He tells you to go? Will you leave what is familiar behind you, in order to go forward with God, and find Him and His purpose in your life? God has wisdom, truth, and eternal riches to give you if you will just step out of the boat of comfort and begin to move toward Him, even to ask Him the hard questions about life.

God may not always answer us right away when we ask Him these questions, but I believe He is pleased when we do. He wants us to seek Him for wisdom, to understand things, and to give us revelation. We need to continue to pursue Him.

Verse 1 says that the queen shared with Solomon all the things that were in her heart. God wants us to pour out our hearts to Him in prayer. Don’t hold back. Tell him everything. And He will answer us. The Bible says nothing the queen asked was too hard for Solomon, and he answered her. You might feel overwhelmed with life right now, but your problems are not too great for Jesus. Nothing is impossible for God!

In verses 5 and 6, the queen admits that she had heard of Solomon’s wisdom and fame even in her far-away country, but had not believed it herself. The queen of Sheba was a Thomas. Thomas doubted and did not believe that Christ was resurrected until he saw proof: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) The queen did not believe about Solomon’s wisdom until she saw for herself.

We don’t need to be doubting Thomases, or have unbelief in our hearts like the queen of Sheba. We just need faith in God, to trust Him. King Solomon’s wisdom exceeded the queen’s expectations.
That is the way it is with God. He is so good, and His goodness and grace to us is so much greater than we can even dream of! 1 Corinthians 2: 9 (NKJV) says, “For it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

I believe the key to the entire passage is found in verses 5-9. As the queen praised the king, and gave him gifts, Solomon in return gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, much more than she brought. As we praise and worship our King Jesus, and obey His Word, He will give to us the desires of our hearts, and even give us more than all our offerings to Him. We can not outgive God!

Are there dreams in your heart that are unfulfilled? Are there voids, an emptiness, that God needs to fill? Are there deep hurts that need healing? Are there things you desire, like publishing a book, speaking all over the country and the world, traveling, doing missions work, having your own successful business, having a happy, fulfilling marriage, being restored to someone in a strained relationship, seeing a loved one saved?

Then come before the King Jesus, as the queen of Sheba came to Solomon. Ask God the hard questions. Let Him expose your heart and break it open. Share with God all these things that are on your heart, and let Him minister to you. Bring praises and offerings to Him, singing songs to Him of adoration. Let Jesus give you the desires of your heart, but come to Him not to get -but to give Him your love.

Sometimes we feel like we can’t go forward
 
Do you feel stuck? Are your dreams on hold? Do you feel as if you will never see the success you long for in your heart?

Last year when we were moving, Ray borrowed a friend’s flat-bed trailer to load and haul our heavy appliances like the stove, fridge, and washer. Moving the appliances from our front door step to the flat bed trailer was a feat in itself, but the real fun began when Ray tried to pull out into our two-acre yard.

It had been raining recently in Missouri, but we’d had several sunny, dry days. But the rain had saturated our grass, and as soon as Ray tried to drive forward, the trailer wheels sank in the mud, and he was stuck. After several frustrating attempts to get out, he finally called a friend who had a big truck and a strong chain. Then his friend got stuck!

Eventually the friend and Ray did get out of the mud, although their zealous efforts left some interesting doughnut shapes and other strange markings in our front yard. Ray commented that it looked as if aliens had visited our neighborhood, leaving crop circles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle

Sometimes we feel like we can’t go forward and we don’t know why. If you have dreams in your heart, and you feel stuck, here may be some reasons why, and some Biblical tips to get you out:

1. Identity.
I believe the primary reason we don’t see fulfillment of our dreams is that we don’t know our true identity in Christ. When Hadassah had to go to the king’s palace for the king to find a new wife and queen in the place of Queen Vashti, Mordecai who had raised her instructed her to not yet reveal her identity and to change her name to “Esther.” Her identity was very important, and she never forgot who she really was. God used Esther in a powerful way to intercede and to save herself and her own people.

We as believers must know who we are in Christ ~ a royal priesthood and a holy nation, sons and daughters of the King of the Universe (1 Peter 2: 9). If we do not recognize that God sees us as his children and has called us to fulfill His great commission on earth, we will always live below our potential and never see our purpose, dreams, and destiny come to pass.

False perceptions about ourselves that we learn from family members, teachers, friends, bosses, co-workers, even pastors and leaders, can cause our vision to be distorted and us to not understand the truth of who we really are.

The way we come to know our true identity is first to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ by faith in His redemptive work on the Cross for our sins (Acts 4: 11-12), and secondly to spend time daily in His Word and in His presence in prayer. God will speak to us great and mighty things, and show us how He views us as we seek Him. (Jeremiah 28: 3)

2. Fear.
Over the last several years, Ray and I have gone through very hard, stressful times, so for a season I laid down writing and speaking. Since last summer, things have improved and I have begun to slowly dip my little toe back into the water. For several months now, I have realized that fear also had been holding me back. Fear of rejection, fear of man, and fear of failure had me stuck.

Like the woman with the issue of blood pushing past the crowed and every obstacle, I know that if I just touch Jesus, He will help me – and His power and virtue will flow from Him into me. But God does not want me or you afraid, because fear trips us up. Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is Your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12: 32)

As we spend time reading the Bible each day, worshipping God, and praying, God will remove our fears by penetrating our hearts with the truth of His word and His agape love for us. His perfect love removes all our fears. (1 John 4: 18)

3. Not knowing or using our gifts
Wouldn’t it be silly for your husband or your favorite girlfriend to give you a wonderful gift for your birthday, and you never opened it, but put it in the back of your closet to open in a few years? Yet that is what we do with our spiritual gifts that God has given us. If we do not know what our spiritual gifts are or do not use them, they are useless.

The gifts are for God’s glory and the Body of Christ’s edification, encouragement, and ministry. They also are a sign and a wonder to the lost, and draw them to Jesus. A listing of the spiritual gifts can be found in Ephesians 4: 11-12 (five-fold ministry gifts), 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 (manifestation gifts), and 1 Corinthians 12: 28.

If you are not plugged into a local church or fellowship, I encourage you to find a Bible-teaching church near you that encourages its members to know and to use their spiritual gifts regularly. There are tests that you can take to find out what your spiritual gifts are and how they function, in Spirit-filled churches and on online sites. Get unstuck; tap into your gifts and talents! Use your gifts for God to further His kingdom and to bless His name!

4. Timing
Talking about the spiritual gifts would not be complete without also mentioning God’s timing. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 says there is a time for everything – even our gifts to be used and our dreams to come true. We need wisdom to know the right timing for something. We don’t want to do anything prematurely; we don’t want to run ahead of God. We also don’t want to lag behind, but walk with Him day by day as Enoch did, until we are no more (Genesis 5: 24).

Sometimes we need to be patient. It seems as if God is always teaching me about patience (and I never pray for it!). I often feel as if God acts and moves really slow. One year for a present, I bought my husband a little gift, a ceramic turtle. I wrote him a note and told him that this was a symbol of his and God’s pace in my life. He laughed.

I am like a race horse, behind the gate, rarin’ to go. But sometimes God wants us to wait on His perfect timing before things can happen. He is still orchestrating all the tiny, marvelous details to perfection. James 5: 7 (NKJV) says, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.” We need to be patient and wait on God’s timing.

5. Lack of resources
Sometimes we are spiritually stuck because we do not have the right resources. That is why networking, education, and training are so important. At the Glorieta Writers’ Conference in New Mexico, my small group leader was Vicki Caruana, teacher, Christian speaker, and author of Apples and Chalkdust. http://www.vickicaruana.blogspot.com/. One of the things that Vicki said that really impacted me was, “Don’t ever stop learning. Continue with your education and training for life.”

The internet is a wealth of information at our fingertips, as well as libraries, the radio, magazines, books, support groups and other groups related to our passions. Talk to your spouse, children, in-laws, friends, boss, co-workers, pastor, neighbors, whoever you can about your dreams and any obstacles you may be facing in getting ahead.

God owns all the resources in the world, and sometimes help comes from the unlikeliest of places. That is why not burning any bridges is so important; you never know who’s going to show up again in your life, and you don’t want it to be an unpleasant experience.

Tap into resources everywhere; be alert, on the look-out for what you need after you define your needs and write them down for clarity and goals. Be open-minded to where your help may come from; don’t be so rigid that you can’t accept other creative ideas, things that might help you even more in the long run. Learn from experts in your field, those who are a success already. Emulate them.

I feel that right now my web site and my blog do not accurately reflect me; they are not my personal taste. I have gone on other women’s websites and blogs, and admired them so much – that’s what I want! But I do not have the web site design or technology knowledge necessary to make them look the way I want to, and have had frustrating attempts trying to do things myself.

I am still swimming through the uncertain waters of creating a web site and blogging ~ what should I blog about, do I put Adsense on my blogs, is Blogsvertise a good thing or will it repel readers, what on earth am I doing, am I doing anything right? This is where studying other bloggers and those with professional web sites comes in…I am striving to learn from the best so I, too, can excel.

The things that I want done are also beyond my husband’s expertise (he is good on computers, but not a programmer.) We also do not have the $450 or much more that is needed to pay a professional web site designer. So I am getting the word out to family and friends that I need help.

Most of all, I am praying for God to send the right person who does have the knowledge and expertise necessary to help me. and for the monetary provision to do these things. If the reason you are stuck is because of resources (knowledge, education, money, etc.), pray to God for those resources and He will supply your needs! God is faithful. He is the one who put those dreams into your heart, and He will bring them to pass for His glory! Just believe!

6. Sin
We may have big dreams in our hearts, but if we are entertaining sin in our lives, God will not honor that. We must be quick to hear God’s voice, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1: 19). We can’t hold onto unforgiveness, but must forgive others as God has forgiven us (Mark 11: 25-26).

Sin will keep us stuck. David thanked God for delivering him out of a horrible pit and the miry clay. That means David was stuck in the mud, folks! He knew both the dangers and the terrible, sometimes permanent, consequences, of sin. Most of all, David did not want to lose fellowship with God because he loved Him. If we love God, we will obey Him. (1 John 3: 6)

We cannot blame other people for our sins, but must acknowledge our own responsiblity to God. God will take care of others who hurt or who oppose us. But I don’t want my own sin to stop my destiny. I desire to obey the Lord, and to please Him. Every day I ask God to show me any area of my heart that is not totally surrendered to Him, to change me, and to empower me with His grace to obey Him.

I stay on my face, and ask God to reveal any unforgiveness or bitterness, any hidden area of sin, anything that keeps me out of fellowship with Him – for God is a holy God, and we His people are to have clean hands and pure hearts. Personal sin can keep me from seeing my dreams coming true, and it puts a barrier between me and my Lord, which I do not want. Sin also affects our testimony for Christ. The tablets of our hearts are to be a written epistle to others of the love of God.

If you are feeling stuck spiritually, review this list and follow these tips. While you’re learning to get out from that familiar place of being stuck for so long, initially mud might go flying like it did at our house, but you will get free, to become all that you were meant to be, with God’s help!