Me: Howdy, Prodigal. Your friend looks a little scary with red eyes and that serious look.
Prodigal: Her name is Faith. She actually is the most loving cat to me. She just looks tough and serious on the outside.
Me: I don’t want to judge a book by its cover so I will look for her heart.
Me: In fact that reminds me of the story of David.
Prodigal: Lets hear it
Lysa Terkeurst gives a wonderful description about the story of David in her book Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl.
She begins with Saul and then continues into the story of David.
King Saul had displeased God-he had been obedient, but only to a certain point. In fact, Saul was much more concerned with pleasing people then he was with pleasing God. As a result, God eventually revealed to the prophet Samuel that a new King should be anointed to take Saul’s place.
God also revealed to Samuel that the future king of Israel would come from the house of Jesse, so Samuel sent word to Jesse to call together all of his sons. When they arrived, Samuel immediately focused on Jesse’s oldest, a fine-looking man. He probably looked like a king, smelled like a king, and, being eldest, he was positioned like a king. But the Lord told Samuel, “Do not consider his outward appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
God obviously takes the spiritual condition of the heart very seriously. It was the requirement of utmost importance when God was looking to pick a future king. And since God doesn’t change, we can discern that the condition of a person’s heart is still a top priority of His today.
In our story, Samuel passed over all of the sons Jesse paraded before him. None were chosen to be future king. Samuel then asked Jesse if he had any other sons. Jesse responded, “There is still the youngest but he is tending the sheep”(1 Samuel 16:11).
Isn’t it strange that Jesse didn’t forward all of his sons in the first place? He was instructed to bring them all before Samuel, but for some reason he didn’t even consider David.
Why wouldn’t David have been included? Surely it wasn’t merely for logistical reasons. There must have been some servant who could have temporarily watched over David’s sheep. I mean think of the magnitude of this opportunity!
That David was not even brought before Samuel gives us crucial evidence about David’s position in his family. He was overlooked by everyone. Overlooked by everyone, but handpicked by God.
Being overlooked and rejected by people does not equate to being overlooked and rejected by God. Often it means the opposite.
Sometimes I think that God allows us to be overlooked and rejected by people to see if we are truly interested in serving God or in pleasing people. It is easy to crave that smile, those words of encouragement, the social status of certain people. God is showing me though that I really crave and long for the peace and comfort I get from knowing that I am pleasing God and following the direction he has for me no matter how tough the road seems! Even if it means be rejected and overlooked.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of this world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.faithinconseling.org
www.theprodigalpig.com
