Runts of the Litter

I was reading my Facing Your Giants book by Max Lucado yesterday and it was talking about David being chosen to face Goliath. David was the youngest of all his brothers, eight in all. He wasn't big and he was a shepherd, tending sheep when he was called. Just doin' his thang. He had slain a few wild animals in his short life though I don't think the Bible makes mention of it until we get to hear this story.

"What caused God to pick him? We want to know. We really want to know.

After all, we've walked David's pasture, the pasture of exclusion.

We are weary of society's surface-level system, of being graded according to the inches of our waist, the square footage of our house, the color of our skin, the make of our car, the label of our clothes, the size of our office, the presence of diplomas, the absence of pimples. Don't we weary of such games?

Hard work ignored. Devotion unrewarded. the boss chooses cleavage over character. The teacher picks pet students instead of prepared ones. Parents show off their favorite sons and leave their runts out in the field. Oh, the Goliath of exclusion.

"The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam 16:7)

Those words were written for the haqqatons of society, for misfits and outcasts. God uses them all.

Moses ran from justice, but God used him.

Jonah ran from God but God used him.

Rahab ran a brothel, Samson ran to the wrong woman, Jacob ran in circles, Elijah ran into the mountains, Sarah ran out of hope, Lot ran with the wrong crowd, but god used them all.

And David? God saw a teenage boy serving him in the backwoods of Bethlehem, at the intersection of boredom and anonymity, and through the voice of a brother, God called, "David! Come in. Someone wants to see you." Human eyes saw a gangly teenager enter the house, smelling like sheep and looking like he needed a bath. Yet, "the Lord said, 'Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!'"(16:12)

God saw what no one else saw: a God-seeking heart. David, for all his foibles, sought God like a lark seeks sunrise. He took after God's heart, because he stayed after God's heart. In the end, that's all God wanted or needed . . . wants or needs. Others measure your waist or wallet. Not God. He examines hearts. When he finds one set on Him, he calls it and claims it.

The story of young David assures us of this: your Father knows your heart, and because he does, he has a place reserved just for you."

Don't you just love stories where the underdog comes out ahead? Saves the girl, wins the game, kills the giant, and becomes king?

A friend of ours prayed for us last week, and in his prayer, quoted the verse 1 Cor. 1:27 "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him." I'm sure most of us easily think of the things about us that don't quite measure up to those around us, or those in our society as a whole. This verse should speak volumes to all of us, giving us hope and encouragement that God can, does, and will use us irregardless of our inadequacies. Take joy in all that God designed in us! Have a blessed 3-day weekend!