Rejected?

“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.

We live in a culture where image is everything. It screams at us from the billboards, the media and the magazines. Everything about life says image is where it’s at and it’s all about me: how I look, how I excel and how much I deserve it. It’s about my rights and me, me, me. It’s the concept of how good can “I” look in the eyes of others that drives us on a wild goose chase in relentless pursuit of illusive happiness. Choosing to live this way leaves us empty and confused. How deceived we are when we get caught in the enemy’s trap where image also becomes our perception of others as well and our observations of externals control our conclusions about them. God views us so differently as He sees past all the surface, the masks and the façade. He sees the hurt and confusion as He peers into the deep motivations of the heart and soul to the true character of the person. He alone, can change a soft heart and create an inner beauty that allows us to see ourselves and others in different light. In His light! The light of His love! Let’s also remember that God chooses different people for different things. God’s rejection of Eliab was not a rejection of the person himself, or of the way he looked, but simply a rejection because He had another choice for the job at hand. He had another man whose destiny it was to be king. It was to be David and David it was! We do well to remember this, when things don’t go for us, as we think they should. When doors close for us and seem to open for others, It’s not God rejecting us, but simply saying that what we have in mind is not what He has in mind for us. David was a man after God’s own heart. If our hearts are right and righteous before God, He will use rejections to open up new doors for our destiny. That’s what He does. I love how He does it.