Are You Ready for a Visit From the Queen?
Out of nowhere I heard a small voice telling me to write down everything that I desperately needed in my life. I followed the instructions but I must admit I was sceptical because most of the issues on my list seemed to fall into the category of: Things That Would Never Happen to Someone Like Me.
I received an invitation to a prayer meeting that same evening. I wrestled with the idea of going at first, but I was intrigued, for some reason I felt excited. I heard about all of the amazing events that happened previously at these gatherings; however, at that point in time, hearing wasn’t enough, I needed to see it with my own eyes. I wanted to know for myself if what I heard was true.
A few hours later I arrived at the church feeling extremely anxious because I didn’t know what to expect. I had questions that needed answering. I remember asking: “Lord, why I am even here? Please speak to me and show me who you are.”
The people flowed with the Spirit of God as they operated naturally in their spiritual gifts, but I didn’t know how to flow; I just felt like a spectator from the outside looking in. I was too busy worrying about how I would feel if I had to leave this extraordinary setting without experiencing God, and even worse, leaving with my unanswered questions still going around in my mind.
There was a call for the final closing prayer and I felt completely deflated. As far as I was concerned, God had deliberately rejected me. I was getting ready to walk away when a woman called out my name, she took me by the hand and the Lord revealed to her what I had written down earlier. She spent time sharing what God was saying concerning my issues. Right at that moment, my life had changed.
Likewise, in 1 Kings 10, the Queen of Sheba’s visit to see King Solomon was not an impulsive or ill-considered one. The Queen was also determined to get answers; she had a motive and needed to see if the hearsay was true.
The Queen travelled over 1200 miles and arrived boldly in all of her splendour, loaded with questions for the King. However, this did not unnerve King Solomon; he just confidently flowed in his spiritual gift of wisdom. The King’s household was set up in an extraordinary way; there was divine order. Each person was in their rightful place whether they were an official or a servant, they all had a role to play in demonstrating the blessings of God.
The typical regal surroundings, rituals and protocol were not enough to impress the Queen of Sheba because this was nothing new to her; as she was already an established Queen. However, on this occasion, what she heard and saw left her breathless. This experience exceeded her expectations by far. What she witnessed was not business as usual, the supernatural order created a channel for her to believe the truth about the power of King Solomon’s God. It demonstrated that the source of his wisdom and the divine order that streamed through each member of the King’s palace had to be from the Lord.
What if there was no supernatural order? Would she still have been amazed by what she heard and saw? I doubt that this would be the case.
Similarly, if the Body of Christ is out of position we run the risk of negatively impacting others who are seeking for the truth. The days when we could pacify people with answers such as: “I don’t know why the church does this, it’s just the way we have always done it here.” will not be tolerated anymore. The Queen of Sheba was already familiar with the imperial rules and regulations and so are others aware of the religious traditions and protocol. They are looking to satisfy their hunger on the undeniable life changing truth rather than being bombarded with doctrine and customs.
I really believe that it wasn’t just Solomon’s gift of wisdom that opened the door of the Queen’s heart to God, but it was the whole of his household coming together and functioning in unison as they should. In a church setting, the onus should not be on the Pastor alone, but on all of the family of God.
The Queen arrived with a vast amount of worldly goods and this gave us the impression that she wanted for nothing; nevertheless, what she heard and witnessed compelled her to realise that she was missing something essential in her life.
She was a pagan, but subsequent to meeting King Solomon, there was a showdown between paganism and the revelation of the truth in her mind. Paganism was defeated by a fatal blow by the hand of the truth as the words: “Praise the Lord your God” streamed from the Queen’s heart to out of her mouth.
There is hope for the world, when the Body of Christ is standing valiantly in position as the mighty army that we are called to be. If we want a great revival to start, we have to ask God to start it in ourselves first. Are you ready for a visit from the Queen?