God's choice?

1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Have you ever used the phrase "I have every reason in the world ....."? I know I  have. I got to thinking about it. What I'm really saying when I say that is -- that I have every reason to do whatever it is I'm doing in the world's eyes --and not in my heavenly Fathers!

When Samuel was called by God to anoint Israel's next king, he was sure that God's choice would be Jesse's first son Eliab -- but he wasn't exactly what the Lord had in mind. God chose the least likely of Jesse's sons, David, because he was a man after His own heart! While the world looks carefully on outward appearance, God is carefully examining the heart!

When making decisions, we need to be sure to have the heart of God in the matter -- not our own reasoning, researching and weighing of circumstances. Are you facing a big decision today? What may seem like the perfect opportunity to us and the world around us may not necessarily be God's choice! Let's spend some time praying and seeking the Lord!

Dear Lord, as we face each decision today help us to seek after You will for the choice we make. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Take the time to be quite.

Psalm 46:10 (ESV)

 “Be still, and know that I am God.

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth!”

Popular author and speaker Ken Blanchard sometimes tells a powerful story about Red, a corporate president who, as a young man, learned an important and life-changing lesson. Red had just graduated from college and was offered an opportunity to interview for a position with a firm in New York City. As the job involved moving his wife and small child from Texas to New York, he wanted to talk the decision over with someone before accepting it, but his father had died and Red did not feel he had anybody to turn to. On impulse, he telephoned an old friend of the family, someone his father had suggested he turn to if he ever needed good advice.

The friend said he would be happy to give Red advice about the job offer under the condition that the young man take whatever advice he was given. "You might want to think about that for a couple of days before hearing my suggestion," he was told.

Two days later Red called the man back and said he was ready to listen to his counsel. "Go on to New York City and have the interview," the older man said. "But I want you to go up there in a very special way. I want you to go on a train and I want you to get a private compartment. Don't take anything to write with, anything to listen to or anything to read, and don't talk to anybody except to put in your order for dinner with the porter. When you get to New York call me and I will tell you what to do next."

Red followed the advice precisely. The trip took two days. As he had brought along nothing to do and kept entirely to himself, he quickly became bored. It soon dawned on him what was happening.

He was being forced into quiet time. He could do nothing but think and meditate. About three hours outside New York City he broke the rules and asked for a pencil and paper. Until the train stopped, he wrote -- the culmination of all his meditation.

Red called the family friend from the train station. "I know what you wanted," he said. "You wanted me to think. And now I know what to do. I don't need anymore help."

"I didn't think you would, Red," came the reply. "Good luck."

Now, years later, Red heads a corporation in California. And he has always made it a policy to take a couple of days to be alone. He goes where there is no phone, no television and no people. He goes to be alone; to meditate and to listen.

Dear Lord, help us to be quite and know You are God. Help us to take the time to go to You with our big and small needs. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Lessons learned from a Butterfly

1 Kings 19:12 (New International Version)

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

As she ran errands with her children one spring day, Kaylyn Dunne was thinking about this. She had just returned from a weekend retreat that used the butterfly as its theme. The retreat had aroused her desire for a deeper spiritual life, yet worried her too, because she had been asked to be chairperson of the next retreat. Kaylyn had never been chairperson of anything, and she felt quite inadequate. With her already crowded schedule and a chronically ill son to care for, was God really calling her to do this? She needed a sign.

"Mom, look!" her son suddenly exclaimed from the back seat. Kaylyn almost hit the brakes. Fluttering in front of her, inside the car, was a huge monarch butterfly. It was a vivid yellow, her favorite color. With the car moving at 45 miles per hour and the windows open barely a crack, how had it gotten in?

The winged visitor quivered around delicately, then landed like a little puff on the dashboard. Awed, the children stared at it. "It must be frightened," Kaylyn told them. "Open the windows, and let it fly out." They did, but despite the breeze, the butterfly stayed. Kaylyn pulled into the library parking lot. "Let's leave the windows down while we're gone," she suggested. But when they returned to the car, the monarch was still sitting on the dashboard, as if awaiting them.

Bemused, Kaylyn finished the errands, drove home, opened the car doors, went into the house with her enthralled children, and waited. Eventually the butterfly leisurely emerged, circled the house in a kind of embrace, and flew off. "I got to thinking of the timeliness of its arrival, right after I had prayed," Kaylyn says. Did God intend it as a sign that He was near? That He had plans for her to move more fully into life, to shed her cocoon and spread her wings? Kaylyn accepted the chairperson job, and it became her path to a richer spiritual life. Since that day, butterflies seem to visit Kaylyn often, especially when she needs encouragement. One of the best encounters came when a friend held a prayer service in her living room for Kaylyn's son. One of the group pointed to the front window and exclaimed, "Look outside!" Everyone did. Tapping gently against the glass was a brown butterfly. Just a coincidence? Perhaps. But it came in the middle of a snowstorm.

Flowers, rainbows, butterflies.nature's tender treasures. Perhaps God uses them to bridge the barriers between heaven and earth, to let us know that as He watches the sparrow He surely watches us.

Dear Lord we thank You for always being there and communicating with us. We pray that our eyes and ears would be open to the things You bring into our life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

What are Your Decisions Based On?

One of the toughest tasks a church faces is choosing a good minister. A member of an official board undergoing this painful process finally lost patience. He'd just witnessed the Pastoral Relations Committee reject applicant after applicant for some minor fault -- real or imagined. It was time for a bit of soul-searching on the part of the committee. So he stood up and read this letter purporting to be from another applicant.




Gentlemen:


Understanding your pulpit is vacant, I should like to apply for the position. I have many qualifications. I've been a preacher with much success and also had some success as a writer. Some say I'm a good organizer. I've been a leader most places I've been. I'm over 50 years of age and have never preached in one place for more than three years. In some places, I have left town after my work caused riots and disturbances. I must admit I have been in jail three or four times, but not because of any real wrongdoing. My health is not too good, though I still accomplish a great deal. The churches I have preached in have been small, though located in several large cities. I've not gotten along well with religious leaders in the towns where I have preached. In fact, some have threatened me, and even attacked me physically. I am not too good at keeping records. I have been known to forget whom I have baptized. However, if you can use me, I promise to do my best for you. The board member turned to the committee and said, "Well, what do you think? Shall we call him?"


The good church folks were appalled! Consider a sickly, trouble-making, absent-minded ex-jailbird? Was the board member crazy? Who signed the application? Who had such colossal nerve?


The board member eyed them all keenly before he replied, "It's signed, 'The Apostle Paul.'"


Sometimes we are quick to judge. As we look at the letter we would probably all agree that “Paul” doesn’t sound like the man for the job. But as we take a look in the New Testament we see the GREAT work that Paul accomplished. When faced with great decisions let’s take them to the Lord in prayer and ask for His guidance, and that we wouldn’t be blinded but that we would see through Jesus’ eyes.










Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.


- Proverbs 3:5-6 (New International Version)






Dear Lord we pray that we will keep our eyes on you and that decisions we make we not be made with our own understanding but with your understanding. In Jesus’ name, Amen.