10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.
++ Psalm 147
Many of us have heard the saying, "God is not looking for your ability, but for your availability." Or we have heard a similar version of this. Yet I believe that the central sentiment communicated in these verses is consistent with the teaching of the scripture as a whole. We must admit that they do seem to run counter to what is naturally intuitive. Is it not very normal for most of us to marshal our forces and get the job done. Git er done! echoes across the lighter thoughts of our goings-on.
Yet, God's Word, parlays to the believer a whole new system of values. In the Old Testament during the selection of a new king, there was a scene in which God's prophet was commissioned to go to a man's house who had eight sons. The man of the house, whose name was Jesse, paraded seven of his sons before the prophet. These seven sons were physically fit and well prepared for the task at hand. Yet the prophet rejected all seven and then asked, "Are all the young men here?" Then Jesse responded, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
Ultimately, this eighth son, David, was selected as the next king. Why? Well the bible goes on to tell us that during the course of this process of selection, even the prophet misunderstood the value system of the Lord. God had to remind him as the prophet made a erroneous selection, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Too often in today's world we are enamored by the outward appearance with little to no consideration for the content of the character...the heart of that individual. We idolize persons whose lives are comprehensively antithetical to the teachings of the scripture and the person of Jesus Christ. Let us be courageous and live with gusto the counter-cultural life that is pleasing to God resulting in an wide open doorway to His power through His Holy Spirit. Be supremely blessed, beloved.
