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If God offered me anything I desired, what would I choose?


          At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
            Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (I Kings 3:5-9) 

          This month's Readers' Reflections in the Faith section of the Times News paper included this question: If God offered me anything I desired, what would I choose?
          My response was as follows: "I would choose the same things that I have requested many times before, and which He has given many times before: wisdom, direction and attitude. It is my constant request because if I have those things, I can face my circumstances without imposing my will on God or others.  I've shared this prayer request so many times that my friends and I call it "WDA" but really, those three things together are one request: faith."
         This is an ah-ha moment that has been a lifetime in development. I've whined at God and argued with both God and people about the answer to "What is faith," for years. I've even gotten more than one, "What is wrong with you?" type of response. When I've asked others what faith is, the answer is along the lines of, "Well, you know.... it's trust." And what is trust, "Well, you know...it's believe." And what is belief?  "Well, you know, it's faith." They're right, but it didn't help.
      Now I know that when my attitude is good even when my circumstances are bad, when I am allowing God to be my life's GPS, and when I am acting in accordance with established wisdom, that I am living by faith. That may not be all of the answer - but it's more than I would have if I had not spent so long wrestling with the question.

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