Sheba, the Excessive.

That stories about a woman like the Queen of Sheba would send my mind reeling is probably new news to ….um….oh that’s right….none of you.

What with how you all know that I love such things as boots and lots of jewelry, how I have an on-going relationship with my hair, I take more trips than some deem necessary, and how I believe adult women should play dress up more often, I feel as if there is nothing left that I could say for you to be taken aback. Especially something as obvious as me saying, “I wish I could have known the Queen of Sheba.”

No. It seems being a blogger—especially if said blogger is yours truly—makes one lose their surprising power.

Anyway. 

There I was, minding my own business on my journey through I Kings, when, after being given the impeccable design detail of Solomon’s temple (which naturally I loved), in walks…or…well…I am sure she actually paraded….the Queen of Sheba.

And my onward-motion focus for the rest of my devotion time ran down a trail like a rabbit would just as quickly as she and her entourage came.

Because, see, here is the deal: while I cannot surprise you anymore, my mind went crazy over reading that that exact thing happened to little miss Queen B when she entered into Solomon’s palace and temple.

Actually. No. It was more intense than that. She was not surprised.

She was overwhelmed.

Whoa.

The Queen of Sheba.

Overwhelmed?

That’s not something that happens everyday.

Or ever.

I mean, what had she not seen, what had she not eaten, were there any experiences still left to be had?

Debatable.

But there she was, in all her own glory, being trailed and attended to by what must have been caravans of people to do her bidding—and she was overwhelmed.

A woman more sensational, more over the top, more to-the-nines, more EVERYTHING than a woman like me could even imagine being. 

And what was it that did her in exactly?

I Kings 10:4-5 “When the Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.”

It would seem, to steal the words from a Downton Abbey character, that when it comes to overwhelming the world’s most glamorous woman, “Nothing succeeds like excess.”

But wasn’t she used to excess, my mind forcefully queried?! Didn’t she embody it?! After all, not 4 verses later we read this: “And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

And I quote—“Never again were so many…”

No. There can be no doubt. This was an excessive woman. More excessive than the world or King Solomon himself would ever see again.

And yet. And yet. Regardless. There she was. Overwhelmed.

We read what did her in, but what are all those things? Lavish banquets, yes. Mind blowing palaces, most definitely. Servants and cupbearers galore; bedecked in finery like no servant she had ever seen (and she had seen many). Offerings to a God she probably didn’t worship that made her praise his name anyway (Verse 9).

It was splendor. Solomon was known for having it in spades. And it besieged her.

Wow.

What must it have been like…

I received the most beautiful flowers the other day. They were delightful for numerous reasons, but the timing of them was brilliant considering I have been staring at snow for the last 5 months.

A welcome reprieve of life and color and beauty.

And as I was marveling at them, roses and lilies and beautiful things I don’t even know the names of, they kind of overwhelmed me. I mean, flowers are just so…so…splendid.

And then suddenly it hit me, with the Queen of Sheba still rolling around in my mind, she in her overwhelmed state and me in mine, my thoughts went to where Jesus himself talked about these two very same things. 

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28-30)

Not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of those.

But how can that be?! DIDN’T HIS SPLENDOR JUST OVERWHELM THE WORLD’S MOST EXCESSIVE WOMAN?????

And that’s when it hit me. All those things that Solomon had, all the things that sent that woman either through the roof or go weak at the knees---those were things that Solomon had done.

Yes, yes. God gave him the ideas and the abilities and the wherewithal to do it. I don’t doubt or debate that for one second.

But all of those things were man-made things.

She was marveling at something done by the hands of earthly craftsman.

Is it any wonder then, that when Jesus comes into the picture he turns the whole thing on his head and, while he does not deny that Solomon had his splendor, he challenges the assumption that Solomon’s splendor was the highest kind.

“Do you see the lilies of the field? They haven’t done anything to make themselves beautiful. They don’t toil or sew; they are simply what God has made them to be. And not even all of Solomon’s splendor can compare.”

How crazy is that?! How counter-cultural, both then and now! Because there before me, arranged in a perfect bouquet, were things that had more beauty and splendor than all that could overwhelm an excessive woman.

But why?

Well, for one, God made those flowers.

Yes, I realize that is an elementary truth. But when was the last time you stopped to think about it?

God made those flowers.

And while I don’t have a verse right now off the top of my head to prove it, I am going to go out on a limb here and say this:

Whatever God makes is more splendid, more worthy of overwhelming you than anything our hands can do.

And I am not just talking about nature things (although Romans 1 is pretty clear that that does a sufficient job of proclaiming his excellencies)! But what about all the other things that only God can grow?

Like how about other people and compassionate hearts and souls that are moved to prayer and ministerings that happen out of nowhere and your path crossing with someone it shouldn’t have crossed with and the Spirit convicting you of some old, ugly, drawn out sin and opportunities you couldn’t have even imagined happening?

I mean, human hands can’t create those things.

And yet, do they overwhelm us?

Or no, that’s not the question. Do we LET THEM overwhelm us? Or is our focus so temporal, so earthly, so right now, that we are like the Queen of Sheba and can only be moved by the glamorous, the over the top, the excessive? Without even recognizing that God, in his mercy and grace and holiness and blessing is so much more excessive, his plans are so much more successful, and he is so much more worthy of praise than I, or even the Queen of Sheba will ever realize. 

Are we letting the wrong things, the wrong Someones, overwhelm us? Are we putting our hopes and our delights in earthly things? Or are we willing to let the enticement of the glamor of this world go so that we can be overwhelmed by the manifold glories we see every day, the things that God has created and is creating and that he has purposed to overwhelm us for him?

Knock on Wood.

Is anybody else just a little bit confused by the phrase "Knock on wood!"? I heard someone say it the other day and I was thinking to myself "What does that even mean!?!"

While I am sure I could Google it and get an answer, I don't care enough to do that.

If any of you want to do that and let me know....thanks :)

But seriously, knock on wood?

As if that somehow can prolong your good "luck", good health, the good behavior of your children, the success in your business?

Do people actually say it and think it means anything? Is there supposed to be some kind of power in it?

I feel so confused.

Anyway.

The other day I was with someone and we were driving around looking at houses when we came around the corner and there before me were SWEET front doors.

Like, really cool. Really bold.

In what was, I am sure, an excessively exuberant display of emotion I was like "LOOK AT THOSE DOORS!!" Naturally, the only thing they could ask was "Do you like doors?"

Ha.

Yes. I love doors. 

Why? Because doors are on houses, for one (and I have an un-hidden love relationship with houses), and because doors lead you somewhere. That's the only way I know how to say it. They take you from somewhere you are to somewhere else. And sometimes you never know what is on the other side of that door. It's like a little surprise.

Very cool.

Oh look. Here are some doors I have loved over the years.

Christmas doors at Al and Ella's.

I want to know what life is like to live behind that door...

I should probably put curtains around my doors...

Ever since the Exodus I have had a crush on red doors...

I have tried to break into a few doors in my day with help from a few friends...

Hand-carved doors are the COOLEST...

A door with a handle that is curly like my hair.

So, I have to tell you. I have been praying like crazy lately. And not only have I been praying, but I have been praying ridiculous prayers.

Seriously. Praying things, asking for things that are so bold, so out of left field, so impossible, so audacious it's almost....almost...brazen, I feel sometimes.

Yet, there I proceed. Unashamedly asking for the most ridiculous turn of events to take place.

And you know what?

It's happening.

I know. I can hardly believe it either.

For instance. A handful of months ago I was thinking about a certain business move, unsure of whether it would be wise, whether I even wanted it in the first place. And so I said to the Lord, "Jesus, if you want me to be involved in XYZ, I want THEM to contact ME."

And that was it. I didn't write any emails. I made no phone calls. I left it as it is.

And then one day, out of nowhere....they emailed ME.

Whoa!

But that's not even all, Wolfies.

Two months later they called AGAIN. About something unrelated, yet another avenue that I feel the Lord wants me to walk down.

I mean, seriously, if the only move I ever made was saying "God, have them call me if you want me there" and they called me, I feel like that is a pretty clear answer about whether I should proceed or not.

This situation was just like fuel for the fire, let me tell you.

If God can do that, I keep thinking, what else can he do??

What else does he WANT to do?

Because that's what it boils down to, babies. Psalm 135:6 says "The Lord does whatever pleases him."

When he answers those prayers, it's because he wants to. He delights to. It progresses his will.

Needless to say, my brazen prayer life is marching on, unhindered. 

But since I have been mincing no words with God lately, I have felt it was necessary to draw a line in the sand to keep me reverent, to keep me aware of my gloriously and intensely subordinate position in this relationship with Him, so as not to think that I am ever in a role that can make demands upon God. Basically what that means is I am making it more and more of practice to pray face down.

Well. With my face on the floor is a little more accurate of a picture.

And in that posture the other day, there I was, curled up in the fetal position, face down.

Making my outlandish requests.

And whether it was the effects of my morning coffee finally reaching the surface or something else entirely, I noticed that my hand was tapping. It was balled up in a fist....almost like it was....knocking. 

It caught me off guard a bit and my mind immediately flew to that passage in Luke 11. 

"Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.“Which of you fathers, if your son asks fora fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:5-11)

Almost as if my body knew a truth of the gospel my mind was not attentive to, there I was: knocking on the door of heaven.

In need of a friend, in need of food, in need of provision, in need of the radical power of the Holy Spirit, whatever it was I was requesting at that moment, my heart was whispering it to God, and my hand was knocking on his door.

Hmmmm....

Knocking on wood, might it be?

I know it. You know it. I am crazy.

But there on the floor all of this madness fit together in my brain like a hand fits into a velvet glove.

All of the sudden it all makes sense!

"Knocking on wood" will help you nothing. Unless it's the wood of heaven's door you keep persistently begging to be let into.

Remember the persistent widow? I love that it says she "Kept coming..." (Luke 18:3) And why did she receive what she asked for? It was not because the judge liked her, feared God, or cared about men. It was because she continued to do what she started out by doing...and she did it again...and again...and again.

She kept coming.
She kept knocking.

See. Sometimes I am afraid to pray for big things. Because like all of those cool doors, I don't know what's on the other side of them.

And what if I don't want to know? What if I don't want to the answer? Or even more likely---what if the door never gets opened?

Or sometimes I feel like I am being a pest. "Um...hi.....again.....I still need you to answer this prayer..."

Listen, I don't know much about the world and all the comings and goings of God, but this is what I do know: If we ask for something....and ask for something....and keep asking for something. IF IT IS GOOD, and IF IT PLEASES GOD...then we will receive it as a good gift from his hand.

And us receiving good gifts from him also pleases him.

Because he is God and he is awesome and selfless like that.

So pray, dear ones. Pray for your will to conform to His. Pray for you to want what pleases him; let your requests be things that speak of God and his Kingdom. You are not speaking to an idol carved out of an inanimate object; to a figure that has no power.

No. We pray to the One who can make things happen.

Who can make ridiculous things happen. 

Pray.

Pray with your face down or your eyes looking up expectantly.

Pray in the quietness of your heart or in the boldness of fists that bash into the ground.

But pray. And keep praying. Over and over again. And over again still. Keep knocking on the wooden door of heaven, even if you feel like if you pray any longer your knuckles might start to bleed.

Keep going. Keep going.

"Knock on wood," you could say.

You never know what God might have behind that door.

Single Elimination.

Hi babies! I feel like I should say "We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you...."

Ha!

Because, see, I ended the last post with the little phrase "To be continued."

But I don't want to continue it tonight.

Alas, no. Not tonight. I will get around to it eventually. I have other thoughts in my little brain running around in circles and interrupting, not only this supposedly scheduled blog post, but my daily thoughts.

Which is exactly what I wanted it to do.

Remember now that I was in the Blahs around the time of my last post.

Blah blah blah.

And I touched a bit on "thought processes" and taking thoughts captive.

And how I WAS NOT doing that.

In not wanting to really ever be Blah again (because who in the world enjoys the doldrums?), I was processing through it and the passage in Philippians 4 came to mind.

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Phil 4:8)

Do you ever feel like your mind runs wild like a car with no brakes? Or are your thoughts ever totally out of control, and there you stand, trying futilely to grab at them like lots of pieces of paper in a high wind?

It occurred to me a few years ago that what the Bible tells me to do, I do the opposite.

"Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ" (II Cor. 10:5), it says, and "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17). 

But I usually think without ceasing and take every prayer captive.

Do you know what I mean?!?! My mind just GOES. Wherever, whenever, all the time, to places it shouldn't, it plots plans, it dwells on fears, it thinks up schemes, it makes up fake stories, it conjures up prejudices and judgments, and blah blah blah exactly; before I know it my mind has gotten me where? In the blahs. The doldrums.

Because I didn't take every thought captive. And subsequently I sure was not praying over anything, let alone the thoughts I should have captured.

And then it hit me: that laundry list in Philippians of things to think about (i.e. things to prayerfully categorize your captive thoughts with) is kind of like a funnel.

You know, like one of those things that are big at the top and small at the bottom. Those things that control the speed and flow of what passes through it.

And in this funnel is where you place your thought. Like all things you are trying to condense, it starts at the top--your captured thought starts at the top--which is where it gets passed through its first question; the widest level of the funnel.

Right off the bat: Is this thought TRUE?

As simple as it sounds, this already is revolutionary to me. How often do I find myself fretting and fussing and fearing over things that are not even true?! All the time.

My dad would always say, "Cry about what you know, not about what you don't know. Don't cry about what you imagine."

It's been a helpful thing for me to remember through the years because I can easily work myself into a hot mess over things and situations that are not even necessarily true if I am not careful.

So first and foremost, like the passage outlines, interrogate your thought with evidence for its truth. And then it's like a single elimination 3-on-3 basketball tournament. If it's not true, then it has got to be gone. Get it out of your mind; it's not a thought that is available to you for thinking.

Sorry, try again.

If, however, it is true, then you can pass it onto the next level, the next stage of the funnel.

Now we ask of it, "But are you NOBLE?"

And, like a summer storm, round and round the thought goes in the funnel, down through the next level or immediately spit out. Spit out because if it answers "No" to any of the levels, it will take you where you don't want to be. 

See the thing is, even though it might be TRUE, if it's not NOBLE then it will do you no good. It will prosper you nothing.

Because not all things that are true are brilliant. 

Remember that. Just because something is true doesn't mean it's healthy. We live in a nasty world; reality can be a harming place.

But hurray! If it is not only true but noble as well, then it goes for its third round of questioning: Is it RIGHT?

Yes or No? Does it stay or does it go?

Do you see the pattern?

It's just like that questionnaire at the doctors office "If you answered 'Yes' to any of these illnesses...."

Does this make sense? How much better off would we be if we thought about only the things that were true AND noble AND right AND pure AND lovely AND admirable AND excellent AND praiseworthy? And ONLY prayed about the things that had to be spit out....?

I guess I am just in the mood to be so hyper-active about my thought life right now, that anything that will keep me positive and peppy (the opposite of the Blahs) and, more importantly, focused on Christ and HIS truths, is what I want to cling to.

Think good thoughts, Wolfies!