Let The Lord Define You
1Samuel 16: 6-7 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his 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."
Helen Keller once said, " The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Keller, the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor's Degree in this country, knew something about looking at things differently than we usually do. We live in a world that judges by appearances and draws conclusions based upon how things seem, instead of how they actually are. If you listen close enough beloved, the world will find all the reasons why you cannot do something. It will find all of the risk and see none of the reward. It will instill in you enough worry and fear to choke away any dream God might be trying to instill in your spirit. Thank fully however, the way we think, is not the way God thinks:
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8-9
Thank God for that! Our ways can be very discouraging. Our
ways can look and assume. No one is exempt from it. The Prophet Samuel was the
last Judge of Israel. He was not corrupt, as his very sons would be. He stood
up to Kings and declared what sayeth the Lord. Yet here we see in the key
verses above, even Samuel cannot escape making snap human judgments. The scene
is this. After having Judges rule
Verse 6 above is the scene where Jesse brings forth his sons one by one to see which one the Lord has decided on. Eliab is the oldest son and his countenance and stature must have been impressive because Samuel reacts within himself and thinks that surely this must be the Lord's anointed! Samuel sees a tall man, well built, rugged and attractive. What is important to man however is often not even noticed by God and the Lord quickly instructs Samuel to not consider the things of man! Because man looks at the outward appearance, while God looks at the heart. Hallelujah!
Throughout the Bible we see God using people we probably
would not hire if they came to us on a job interview. Moses was a murderer who
had a speech impediment. He wouldn't survive the background check! He also
represents our linear way of thinking. We naturally reflect to a horizontal
mindset; not a vertical mindset. God appears to Moses in a burning bush. Can
you imagine? Wouldn't the awe-inspiring presence of God speaking to you through
a burning bush be enough to penetrate the horizontal mindset we have?
Apparently not because after God tells Moses he will deliver the Israelites
from slavery in
But
Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites
out of
God assures Moses not to worry because He will be with him.
Can you imagine? God has promised all of us who believe upon Him that He will
be with us as well. But there we can be also, doubting the very call God has placed
upon our lives. Who are we to preach? Who are we to lead a ministry? Who are we
to write, to dream, to witness to people and bring them out of the slavery of
their
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"- Exodus 3: 13
