Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Years ago, the team leader of our church planting team in Jordan received a call from a satellite television ministry asking if we would follow up on a person who had asked for more information about Jesus. There was a young twenty-something man and an older sixty-something man who had each asked for a Bible and a visit to discuss Jesus.
Conventional wisdom would say he should choose the younger man for the visit. A young man was more likely to be open to new ideas and perhaps more willing to change his beliefs. But as our team leader prayed, he sensed God nudging him to follow up with the older man.
He went to visit this man in his home in a conservative part of the city. He expected it would be a Nicodemus-like visit (one-to-one and secretive). When he walked in there were thirteen people in the room. Being a conservative area, it was customary that Muslim women would be in separate rooms from the men. But there were both men and women there.
The man began his story. He had put his faith in Jesus after watching different Christian programs on satellite TV. He’d gotten ahold of a Bible and had been reading it. Everything he read, shared with his family. The people gathered with him were his wife and children and their spouses. All of them had believed in Jesus too!
Before our friend could ask any questions the man went on to explain that everything he taught his family, they shared with others. They had seen another thirty-five people choose to follow Jesus from their witness and study! And that wasn’t all! Those thirty-five had been sharing what they learned with others and were meeting with twenty-five more who had believed and were following Jesus.
Our friend was stunned. He had gone to this meeting expecting to meet a man who was curious about Jesus. Instead he found that God had already begun a movement of the Holy Spirit! Over the next many months, God would add exponentially to the number of people following Christ as a result of this family’s witnessing.
What would have happened if our team leader had followed conventional wisdom? I imagine someone else would have eventually found this man and visited him, but we would have missed out on being a part of what God wanted to do. We would have missed out on an outpouring of the Holy Spirit unlike anything we had seen before. It was something we had prayed for many times, and we were blessed to be witnesses to God’s answer!
Samuel was sent to find a new king since God had rejected Saul after his disobedience. As Jesse’s sons were paraded before him, Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah and four others pass before him. Each one looked like a leader. Each one appeared to be the one. But the Lord rejected each of them.
More important than appearance, God looks at the heart. He looks for a person who is available and teachable. He looks for a person who is humble and trusting.
Take time to reflect:
When you are faced with a decision, what do you consider? How open are you to God steering you away from conventional wisdom?
Why does God look at the heart? What can we look at that would help us see the heart and not just appearance?
Do you focus more on your own outward appearance more than your inner life? David was called “a man after God’s own heart.” How do you cultivate a heart like that?
This week pause for a few minutes in a quiet place. Take three deep breaths. Ask God to take a good look at you. Ask him what does he see? Wait a few minutes in a posture of quiet listening. What do you sense him saying? Where do you sense an invitation from him? How will you respond?
Finish by thanking God for the work of His Holy Spirit in your life and the promise that he will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6)!