Unmatched on Earth

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 126, Unmatched on Earth.

"Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom." 2 Chronicles 9:22.

This verse is the summary of an entire reign. It's the chronicler stepping back, looking over years and years, and writing the final verdict: no king on earth came close to Solomon. Not one. Not the neighboring kings, not the distant empires who sent their queens to witness his fame firsthand, not anyone.

But I want you to remember where that wisdom came from, because it changes everything. Solomon wasn't born wise. At the start of his reign, still young, facing a responsibility far too large for him, God appeared to him in a dream and offered him anything he asked for. And Solomon, instead of asking for long life, instead of asking for riches, instead of asking for the heads of his enemies, asked for wisdom. He asked for a heart able to discern, able to judge fairly, able to lead a nation that large.

And God was so pleased with that request that He gave Solomon not only the wisdom, but also the riches he never even asked for. Notice the order: the right request came first, and the blessings God chose to add came after. It wasn't the other way around. Riches didn't buy the wisdom — wisdom drew the riches in as a consequence, never as the goal.

That's a principle worth carrying into today. How often do we get that order backwards? We chase success first, financial security first, recognition first — and hope wisdom shows up later, as a leftover, if there's time. But Solomon's story teaches the opposite: ask for wisdom first. God knows how to manage the rest.

And now I need to tell you something that stings a little. That same man — the wisest king on all the earth, the one who wrote Proverbs, the one whose judgments impressed queens from distant lands — later in his life let his heart drift. The chapters that follow tell that part of the story without any softening. The wisdom he received wasn't an automatic guarantee of lifelong faithfulness. It needed to keep being lived out, day after day, surrendered back to God again and again.

That's an important warning: you can carry an extraordinary gift — intelligence, discernment, the ability to lead — and still need to guard your heart every single day. Wisdom without a surrendered heart just becomes impressive intelligence. It becomes an empty talent. The gift needs to be offered back to God continually, not just once, at the beginning.

So today, before breakfast, do what Solomon did at the start — not at the end. Pray asking for wisdom. Don't ask for success. Don't ask for riches. Ask for wisdom for one specific decision weighing on you this week. Name that decision out loud. And trust that, just as it happened with Solomon, God knows how to add the rest.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.