Looking Beyond the Obvious.
1 Sam 16:7
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.
(KJV)
King Saul proved to be a real piece of work.
After he became king, his actions and decisions soon revealed to the people that he was a selfish, angry, hateful, mean spirited man. Eventually something snapped in his mind and he proved to be unfit for the role of king.
He finally disobeyed God openly. His kingdom was wrested away from his control. He was king, but in name only. The blessing of God was gone.
Now came time for a new leader ship.
Israel needs a king. Enemies surround them. They need someone to carry the scepter. But who? Samuel did not know and could not imagine. No one knew but God.
What Samuel failed to realize, what we often fail to realize, is that behind the scenes, before he ever flung the stars into space, God had today in mind!
He had this week in mind, in fact, he had you in mind. And, he knew exactly what he was going to do.
God in never at a loss to know what to do! He is never baffled by our situations. He knows perfectly well what is best for us!
Our problem is we don’t know. We say, Lord show me then I’ll be good to go. Explain it all to me then I’ll count on you.
That’s not faith!
Faith is counting on him when we do not know what tomorrow holds!
When a man or woman of God fails, nothing of God fails! When a man or woman changes, nothing of God changes. When someone dies, nothing of God dies! When our lives are altered by the unexpected, nothing of God is altered or caught off guard.
Isaiah wrote,
Isa 65:24
24 "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
Before you ever utter a word, God says, I am involved in answering, in fact, while you are speaking I am involved in bringing to pass the very thing that I have planned from the beginning!
God knows what he is going to do and nothing can stop him from bringing it to pass.
Your panic does not cause God to panic!
Your worry does not impact God!
Go to the home of Jesse.
Ok. But wait. If Saul hears he will kill me.
Does this sound familiar? God says Go and we say right! Then before we’re off of our knees we’re saying, Now wait lord, how can I pull that off?
The lord does not answer Samuel. He just tells him to take stuff with him and go.
Take a sacrifice, oil with you.
In other words follow the leader.
Oh for the simplicity of hearing and obeying the voice of God.
I assure you if you are praying for direction in your life, God will grant it. You just need to hear and obey!
I remember a few weeks ago feeling impressed that there was a man here that needed to change his job, I said so preaching…very soon after that a man came to me and told me that God had been dealing with him about that and he was making the change!
Oh! Let’s hear and obey the voice of God.
At Jesse’s home.
Where are your boys? Let me get them.
One by one.
1st one. Surely this is he!
No! You are looking at the wrong things! I let the people pick the last king, they looked at the outside, and I am picking this one.
I have one prepared! Ask for the other son!
Do you have any more boys?
One left, he is out in the field.
Jesse made a common mistake. A couple actually.
He didn’t have equal appreciation for all of his children, and he failed to cultivate a mutual self-respect among them.
Jesse saw his youngest as nothing more than the one who kept the sheep!
David was overlooked for the obvious reasons. He was too young. Too little. Too dirty. He was a dirty little shepherd boy!
But behind the scenes, God has already chosen him!
Little did he know that today is the day that began with an early morning stroll and would end with a king’s anointing!
1 Sam 16:11
11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here."
Samuel has the proper perspective now.
Who cares what he is doing! Go get him! What does it matter that he is tending sheep! What does it matter how old he is? Go get him!
What I want to preach to this church this morning is found in this reply!
We need to look beyond the obvious shortcomings in our lives!
Look beyond the bad track record. We need to realize that God does not look at what we are! He sees us as what we can be in him!
David ended up being anointed!
God chooses to look past how pitiful we are. Yes all flesh comes short of his glory! But he sees us as we shall be!
Man in the tombs. Who would want a crazy, deranged, demoniac? Jesus!
His past meant nothing to God. His past had no bearing on the favor of Jesus.
Your past has no bearing on God’s grace.
Your problems are obvious. But look beyond them. God is!
