Are Your Insides Showing?

1 Samuel

I love reading about how God came about choosing David to be king.
First of all, Samuel had to get out of his depression.

16:1
And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

Certainly, Samuel was very close to Saul, and though Saul blatantly disobeyed God, Samuel was still sad that he could no longer be king. Perhaps harder that accepting the consequences for my own sin is seeing the ones I love suffer the consequences for their sins. But I must trust God in His judgment and look toward the future as Samuel had to do.

I love how God chooses the unlikely character. I don't know (I still need to get my hands on a good book about Bible culture.) if Jesse knew Samuel was looking for a king among his sons. He just knew that he was going to anoint one of them with oil. They pause at his first son, Eliab, he's the oldest, he's tall and has all the physical expectations of a king. But God says...

16:7
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

I'm glad that with God's servants, it's not a pageant or a contest on what the outward show is. God sees the heart and knows the sincerity of me. That's refreshing but sometimes that's convicting. Wonder what I would look like if God turned me inside out and my "inside" became my "outside" appearance. Would I be dissheveled, crude face, dirty from filth I allowed in my mind. The critical thoughts would become free words out of my mouth. Honestly, really thinking about that is humbling. Sure, I know God SEES me, but really thinking about that hard...God really sees everything in me. I hang my head in shame. But at the same time, I feel free with that fact because God also knows my motives and when others question or criticize how I respond, I don't feel responsible to them because it's God that truly knows my heart, and it is Him whom I desire to please.

I notice, too, that God chose someone who is working. Not someone who was waiting in line to "certainly be chosen" but a worker, someone who was out in the field often looked over. I once heard in a sermon "God used all sorts of men in the Bible--murders, liars, adulterers, etc., but God has never used a lazy man." So true. Position should come to those who are not looking for it, but rather those who are working as if it does belong to them.

Thirdly, God chose a balanced person:

16:18
Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, [that is] cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD [is] with him.

A lot of us try to be "fat" or excel in one area of our lives, but God proves by choosing David that it was the balance that was important. Help me, Abba, not to focus so much on being the BEST at this or that but rather at being GOOD at a lot of things.