“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7, NASB)
The verse has been stuck in my thoughts for days now. Physical appearance has probably never been more important to society than it is nowadays. All day long we are bombarded by commercials and social media posts touting weight loss injections and drinks, face creams, hair products, make-up, and styling tools. Our feeds are never ending.
Yet in this verse, we uncover God’s criteria when He looks at people.
Samuel was tasked with anointing the king whom God had selected to rule over His people. When sitting down at feast, Samuel looked over all of Jesse’s sons and thought all of them were present. Here we see Samuel being influenced by what his eyes were seeing.
But God’s response was the same for each, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
Finally Samuel asked, “Are all the young men here.” With that question, he discovers there is one young man out tending to the sheep. When brought before Samuel, the Lord responds, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” (1 Samuel 16:12, NASB)
God does not look at the physical but delves deeper.
What can we learn from Samuel’s experience today? Won’t you join me at Woman to Woman Ministries HERE and find encouragement that you are neither forgotten nor unseen.
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
Today I may be joining … Remember Me Monday and InstaEncouragements .
