All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
I was reading through 1 Samuel 16 today and the beginnings of David chosen to be king. I love when I read Bible stories and the people that God used show their "human side". It reminds me that what I see as worthless, God sees as a treasure for His glory. Sometimes we think the ones God used in His Kingdom were perfect, but that's far from true.
In chapter 16, the Lord told Samuel to stop mourning for Saul because there was going to be a new king in place of Saul. The Lord sent him to Jesse's house to see which one of his sons was chosen to be king. What I loved about this story was that Samuel only saw through his own human eyes at the physical appearance of the brothers and he thought obviously the anointed one was in front of him (v 6). God had bigger plans for David. The shepherd of sheep was about to become a shepherd of people.
As all of the brothers were before him, the Lord said to 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" (v 7).
After asking Jesse if that was all of his sons, David was brought to him. He was the youngest of all the brothers yet the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him: for this is he." I love that! God literally chose David out of EVERYONE for this. Was there someone better? Probably. Someone wiser? Maybe. But nobody could do it like David. So Samuel anointed David in the midst of all his brothers and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day on (v 12-13).
David was never perfect. In fact, through his time as king, he committed adultery and murder (2 Samuel chapters 10-20). He was still anointed by God. We make mistakes and see our faults so magnified that we believe God would never use us for His kingdom. The truth is, those are the exact people He wants to use. He wants the sinners saved by grace, the bruised, the afflicted, the broken, the mistake makers with a repentant heart. What we see as filth, He sees broken vessels made beautiful. He wants you to come as you are!
What kind of story would a perfect person have anyway? Perfect people wouldn't need to experience forgiveness, or the love from a Savior after a broken heart, or the mercy God gives after a mistake, or feel the happiness after a repentant prayer. How would that feel? To never know extreme love because you never felt the pain of rejection. To never feel true happiness because you never experienced a time of sadness. Life would feel pretty empty to me. That's why there's beauty in a testimony. The Lord sees what's in our heart and knows what we can be compared to what man sees.
Our testimony is formed through those moments. Let the words spoken about David be encouragement for you -- Arise...for this is he -- He uses imperfect people to do big things.
●This post is a link up with Kristin Schmucker for the 31 Day Scripture Challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment