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Good Wednesday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Here’s a question that’s important for us to consider frequently, especially in our quiet, reflective moments each day: “How is your HEART?”
It’s not a medical question, it’s an emotional / spiritual question. However, I’ve noticed very often a troubled heart, a broken heart, a stressed heart, an anxious heart, a worrying heart can cause high blood pressure and even a heart attack! I think it would be a good practice to begin and end each day with a quiet moment of each of us looking deeply into our lives with that question “How is MY heart?”
This month we’re asking God to help us see the very important upcoming American elections through the Biblical lens of governance leadership of people. 1 Samuel 16 is a remarkable moment in Israel’s history. Samuel the old prophet, is commissioned by God to travel to Bethlehem and find a young man whom God will identify, and anoint him to be the next king of Israel. Saul, the first king, had failed in his leadership through pride, self-reliance, deceitfulness, and therefore God had removed His Holy Spirit from Saul. God had sent word to Saul through Samuel, that his leadership over the nation would be without God’s help. Samuel had informed king Saul “You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:26) Can you imagine a more terrifying announcement if you were king over a nation of God’s people?
However, please notice God did not end Saul’s life through illness or battle injury. God allowed Saul to serve 40 years as the people’s desire, Israel’s first human king! You’ll remember the leaders of Israel had told Samuel they would prefer a human king rather than continue with God as their King. They rejected their uniqueness as a people of God. The Israelite leaders said the worst thing they could have said “Give us a human king so we can be like all the other nations.” (1 Samuel 8:19,20) Sadly, my friends, that’s what too many Christians have said and done over the centuries. While grateful for the death and resurrection of Jesus, which earns their salvation from sin condemnation, they would prefer to live like everyone else, rather than live the Holy Spirit anointed life, which God has designed them for and called them to live.
It’s important for us to remember there is God’s DIRECTIVE will and God’s PERMISSIVE will. There are times God will accomplish His will, His purpose regardless of human desire, and there are times God will allow human desire, even if it is contrary to what God knows is best. The latter is what happened with Israel’s rejection of God’s Kingship over them, and their call for a human king.
1 Samuel 16 is the story of Samuel’s visit to Bethlehem and specifically to the house of Jesse and his large family of 7 sons. God had not given Samuel any criteria for selection of the man he should anoint as king, so naturally Jesse offers his strongest, biggest son Eliab. But listen carefully to God’s guidance of Samuel in leadership selection: “Do not consider his appearance or his height …The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the HEART.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Oh my! So take a look at the leaders of your nation, your community, your business, your church… don’t look at their appearance, look at their heart, what do you see? Of course we can’t see inside a person with our natural human eyes, so we look at the EVIDENCE of their heart in action. We look at their lifestyle, their communication, their conflict resolution, their relationships, their trustworthiness, their compassion, their courage etc.
The book of Proverbs in the Bible, are among the most powerful chapters of guidance for living a God honoring life ever written. Listen to a few truths found there. . .
* “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, let the discerning get guidance…The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Prov. 1:5-7)
* “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways honor God and He will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD and shun evil.” (Prov. 3:5-7)
* “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of your life.” (Prov. 4:23)
* “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes / a lying tongue / hands that shed innocent blood / a heart that devises wicked schemes / feet that are quick to rush into evil / a false witness who pours out lies / a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” (Prov. 6:16-19)
I have found reading at least one or two chapters of Proverbs each week can be very challenging and helpful to living life with integrity. Some people I know, who are in leadership roles, read one chapter of this remarkable book every day!
Back to our story in 1 Samuel 16 and you’ll find God did not confirm any of the sons Jesse brought to Samuel and so Samuel finally asked “Are these all the sons you have? Jesse answered, “there is still the youngest but he is out tending the sheep.” Isn’t that how we often are? We make assumptions about a person’s potential based on age or ethnicity or education or gender or family background or so many things. But when finally that young boy had come from the fields, still probably dirty and sweaty from field work, and smelly from sheep, God whispered in Samuel’s ear “Rise and anoint him, he is the one.’ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Holy Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.” (1 Samuel 16:13)
Go ahead my friends, put yourself in that scene, standing among Jesse and his sons, watching old prophet Samuel pour anointing oil on the young boy’s head, declaring him to be the LORD’s choice to be the next king of Israel! What do you see in the faces of the man standing around you? Do you hear their snickers, their whispers of doubt and perhaps resentment? What do you feel in your own heart when you consider what is needed to be king of a nation?
We don’t know exactly how old David was and we can presume he had received very little formal education, but when sometime later young David takes food to his older brothers who are fighting as soldiers at the front lines of king Saul’s army, and suddenly the giant Goliath shouts his vulgar challenge to the Israelite army. . . then we get a glimpse of what God had been doing in David’s heart to prepare him to be king! 1 Samuel 17 has that remarkable story and I urge you to read it, looking carefully for the evidence of the condition of David’s heart, and his confidence in God to lead him in responding to Goliath’s challenge, even when king Saul and his entire army of soldiers melt in fear!
King Saul said to young David who inquired about Goliath “You are not able to go out against this mighty Philistine and fight him, you are only a boy and he has been a fighting man since his youth. But young David said to king Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it and struck it and rescued the sheep…Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the lion and the bear will deliver me from this Philistine…!” Do you see the contrast of the courageous heart of young David trusting in God, and the fearful hearts of king Saul and his army, trusting in themselves?
You’ll recall David finally goes out to face Goliath, armed only with his slingshot and 5 stones, but from his God-trusting heart David yells at Goliath: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head…and the whole world will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD’s…” (1 Samuel 17:45ff)
Friends, did a shiver just run up your spine as you imagine yourself standing in that valley of Ela? As you read the rest of that great story, look closely for what God wants us to learn about LEADERSHIP. May I ask you, is it any different today, in America or any other place in the world? Are not the very best leaders of any organization or church or group, those who know God, trust God and follow God faithfully and obediently? So let’s do that… take your journal and look around your world and jot down the names of leaders, and pray for them, that God would work in their hearts, to help them become leaders through whom God can work. Do you agree God can change any heart?
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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