A Blessing in Disguise

Based on 1 Samuel 15-16, Luke 10:25-42

"But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7.

What could God possibly be doing right now?? I've said this many times recently...and I think today's reading was to show me the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover" or more specifically, "Don't deem a situation a failure until you see what God's using it for"! This reading & post sort of couples with the last one-we need to keep focused on the big picture, our God, & not get lost in our circumstances!

Samuel was going to anoint the next king of Israel out of the sons of Jesse. All were valiant looking men on the outside, but God told Samuel to anoint the one who was valiant on the inside-and that was the youngest, David! He would be the one who would fight Goliath! And that's because David knew GOD was his strength!

"And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let our Lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well." 1 Samuel 16:12‭-‬16.

It's quite interesting how God works! From Saul's perspective, this was a boy who was skilled at playing the harp, and later Saul was told The Lord was with this boy. Little did he know that this young man David would become the next king of Israel! The same Spirit of God which left Saul was upon David, and Saul now had an evil spirit which only someone with God's Spirit upon them could dismiss. David didn't look like much on the outside, but God was preparing so much on the inside for him to do something great!

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him."
Luke 10:33‭-‬34.

We can also take a look at the story of the good Samaritan! The Samaritans and Jews did not get along much, and the Jews looked at the Samaritans as unclean people because they were only partly Jewish...but this was the type of person who ended up helping a Jew! A compassionate heart is possible in anyone. Our label, or "book cover," doesn't apply when we trust God to use our situations to do a great work & glorify Him!

ANYONE can repent, be baptized in Jesus' Name, receive His Spirit & live a godly, holy life! Any situation, no matter how unfortunate it seems, can be turned around and used for good...but we must give it all to God in prayerc& ask for patience through the process (I know I need a constant reminder of that!). We never know what God's doing behind the scenes. We just have to trust Him-it may just be a blessing in disguise!