GOD USES THE FAMILIAR TO INTRODUCE THE SPECTACULAR

DAILY WORD

9/26/23

12. So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes.

And the LORD said, “This is the one; anoint him.”

13. So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16: 12–13 NLT

Today’s Passage returns us to The Story of Samuel and his search for the next King of Israel. If you recall, God has rejected King Saul for his repeated recalcitrance and disobedience in following His Commandments. His willfulness was so frequent that God Decided to coronate another King even before Saul was out of the Throne.

That brings us to Today’s First Lesson. Once God is Finished with you after you’ve rebelled against Him, railed against His Law, and run in your own direction, He tends to wash His Hands of you. Even if you still enjoy His Blessings for a time, be careful because you may have already outrun His Grace. That is a terrible place in which to find yourself. Ignorant of your position and unable to do much about it even if you weren’t.

So, as far as God is concerned, Saul is out. Now, Samuel, God’s Prophet, is at the house of Jesse. He is the man God sent Samuel to so that he could locate and identify one of Jesse’s sons whom God has Chosen to coronate as the next King.

Two more things stood out to me this morning as I read Today’s Passage. This is admittedly a rather mundane Passage after all the drama of many Past Posts, but there are a few noteworthy aspects I’d like to address. The first of which is David’s appearance.

A couple of Posts back, we discussed God’s View of man’s appearance. People tend to judge others on how they look and present themselves to the general public. But God has a more Penetrating Gaze regarding His Assessments of His Creations.

Verse Seven of this Chapter tells us unequivocally that God Judges our hearts to assess our worth, but Today’s Passage says He still chose a young man of beautiful features. Why, if God cares little for our outward appearance, would He still Choose a man of “a beautiful countenance?”

The Answer to Today’s Second Lesson is simple. God knew who He was dealing with.

Even though God Judges the heart, He still understands His people. Again, in Verse 7, He clearly says He recognizes how we make our assessments. So He chose a man who not only lived up to His Standard but could check the boxes The Israelites would be utilizing for their judgments as well, even if they were flawed.

On a related note, I’ve always found it interesting when people brought up how the “Jesus Story” mirrored multiple “virgin and son” myths of ancient religions, arguing that Jesus’s story had to be fake because it looked so much like those pagan stories that would have been ancient and well-known themes in Jesus’s time.

But if you were God and knew the flawed way your Creation thought as they tried and failed to make up stories to explain the universe without God’s Hand upon it, why would you diverge completely from what they already knew and understood?

Wouldn’t you use what they already recognized as “miraculous” (but wasn’t real) to Create a True Miracle for them to Believe in? The story of Isis and Horus were legends even His people recognized, and God used the familiar to introduce the remarkable because He knew His audience.

Similarly, He chose another pretty boy to rule Israel because He knew His people. God knew He couldn’t usher in some ugly duckling after the Israelites chose Saul as their inaugural King. They’d never have accepted him.

He found a man who was both aesthetically pleasing and spiritually adept. That is how God Works! He addresses both our feeble understanding and concerns while still Gracing us with His Perfection.

Sometimes, He may even give us stuff that’s not good for us in the meantime so we can see just how Blessed we are when He removes it for something better that came from His Perfect Will instead of our flawed ones. That’s what He’s doing here with David.

But there’s one more Lesson I gleaned from Today’s Passage. God didn’t just Choose David and then send him out unqualified to do the job like Saul, a man The Israelites chose. Verse 13 says, “The Spirit of The Lord came upon David from that day forward.” God not only Chose David, but He also Qualified him through the generous application of His Spirit.

Do not forget that up to this point, only Samuel had access to God’s Spirit. It was not like it is Today when we have direct access to The Spirit through Jesus’s Sacrifice. Jesus came to Purchase that particular groundbreaking Blessing. Back then, God only parsed out His Spirit incrementally to those He deemed Worthy, and that number was sparse.

For God to have Granted David His Spirit and for it to have stayed with him his entire life tells you more about David and God’s View of him than anything else. Conferring that level of Power upon His Chosen recipient was the only Qualification David would ever need, and the same goes for us Today.

If we have God’s Spirit applied to our lives, we are Qualified to do whatever He Calls us to do. Period. We need not worry about our experience, credentials, or worth because we have Omnipotence as our Foundation! If God gives you “The Nod,” you’re good. He’ll take care of whatever gaps your hard work can’t bridge. And if you think I’m wrong, just stay tuned to THE STORY OF SAMUEL and watch as He does His Work in David’s life.

His Path will be difficult, but God never told us everything with Him would always be easy. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. He told us He’d Provide us Grace to see us through the inevitable drama because no one’s character is confirmed without a test.

Be prepared for your Test because if God has Called you, it is coming. Just be confident in the fact that He has Promised to see us through, regardless of the trouble to come. And if He’s Said it, it will come to pass. The Question becomes, how sure is your Faith?

Have a Terrific Tuesday, And Trust God’s Will. He Knows Us Better Than You Might Think And Wants Us To Win!

#dailyword