Do you have eyes to see?

I always like the way God leads people in the old testament. Samuel knows the Lord has rejected Saul. He mourns for this. Why does he mourn? Was it because he poured his life into Saul, maybe spent the last 40 years coaching him? I don’t know. But in any case, he get’s the ole spanish elbow – he’s out.

So now they have to go through the exercise of finding out which son of Jesse that God wants. Now this is interesting to me. Why? God is very specific when he directs someone to do something. So why would he not just tell Samuel to go and get David, Jesse’s son?

I think there is a very specific reason for this. You have Samuel coming into town, he comes in peace. Jesse comes with his sons and Samuel takes a look at each one specifically. Now David was not there, he was discounted. When Samuel tells Jesse that the Lord has not found favor with any of his sons, and asks him if there are any other? David is presented and he is the one.

In this story, you have many people involved. You have a narrative developing about how God works. You have people in every case that can be obedient or disobedient. And the likely subject is most likely the least likely.

This is the point of my inquiry this morning.

Our values can get in the way with kingdom values. We choose the tall handsome warrior, and God chooses the boy who can play for an audience of sheep. How does this pertain to us today? Does God still use people to accomplish His will? Is he still guiding and directing? Who are his loyal subjects, apt to follow him when a rational discourse is not available? Who is looking for the young lyre player, forgotten in the field? I still think this is common today.

How do we develop kingdom eyes in our current world? I think we have several clues in the Bible that can help with the inquiry. However, I think it is helpful to look at Jesus’ life to see it more clearly. Things are never as they appear. (see the parables)

Say you are in want. So you ask God to take care of your needs right. But instead of giving you what you want, you suddenly are presented with an opportunity to give of yourself. You are presented with something that means that you will have to give what you cannot afford to give. Does this sound like a logical step? Would you actually consider giving what little you have to another when you need so much? This is the type of thing I am talking about. Our selfish motivation and personal lordship over our lives would determine that this opportunity is not from God. In fact it is from the enemy. We would be praying for a way to let the person down easy as not to hurt their feelings that we could not help them at this time. But when we lose our desire for self preservation and look to God for his hand to cover us, this is where the magic happens.

I have seen it so many times in my life. Faith is not something we muster, it grows like a plant when it is fed. We see God’s hand in hindsight. We can discern his will in hindsight. But can we see him now? Can we see him in the future? I think we can, but we need to understand the character of God. We need to understand what to be looking for.

So David goes into Saul’s service. Saul is pleased with him and requests that he say in his service as an armor bearer. So the transition that Samuel feared would end badly, the Lord has positioned where Saul is happy to have David right next to him. (another example)

Do you have this type of thing happening around you today? Do you see the hand of God in hindsight? Look for clues today. See if you can see His hand today? Look for ways to encourage another. Opportunity is all over the place when we see with His eyes.

Lord, let us all see with kingdom eyes today, allow faith to grow in our hearts, and may we walk in obedience to the prompting of your Spirit in us.

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