Qualified in the Eyes of God.

Over the past decade or more, God has been retraining the way I view myself and other people. It’s so easy to get caught up in what the world values and applaud what the world applauds. God sees things differently though, and challenges each of us to begin seeing through His eyes, and not through our own. But He has 20/20 vision and sees perfectly!

David, in the Old Testament, is a perfect example of the sort of person that God both honours and chooses. When it came time for the prophet Samuel to anoint him as the next king over Israel, he almost missed God’s chosen. (Even great men and women of God get it wrong sometimes). Samuel saw David’s elder brother Eliab and thought to himself ‘surely the Lord’s anointed stands here’ (1 Samuel 16:6). How very wrong he was. God very quickly redirected his focus to David. He may not have had the outward appearance of Eliab, but he certainly had the kind of heart that God was looking for. God told Samuel, ‘Rise up and anoint him; he is the one’ (1 Samuel 6:12). David may have been the least in his family, but not in the eyes of His maker! He was to be the line from which the promised Messiah would eventually come.

Later on, in Chapter 16, we read that David was taken into Saul’s service. This would never have happened had Saul realised at that moment that this young man was destined to be his replacement. A list of commendations was given to Saul concerning David. For example David was referred to as a gifted musician, a brave warrior, a good speaker and fine looking. But the last recommendation was the most significant. Saul’s servant added ‘And the Lord is with him’ (1 Samuel 16:18). If God was with David, then He was also for him and nothing was impossible for David to be or achieve in God’s name. God was with the shepherd boy, who was eventually elevated to the place of king, and this made all the difference. God also affectionately referred to him as a man after His very heart.

If we want God to be with us, as He was with King David, then we need a heart like David had. We also need to value and see people how God values and sees them. What often qualifies people in the eyes of the world is simply froth and bubble in the eyes of God. Man looks at the outward appearance and foolishly elevates, whereas God looks at the heart and anoints with His power. I want to be the sort of person that people look at and know that God is with. Is that your desire too? This is by far the greatest commendation.

Prayer: O God forbid that I should see and judge through natural, worldly vision. I want to see how You see and qualify how You qualify. Help me to do so I pray. In Jesus’ name, Amen.