Hi folks. I'm back from vacation. It was good, but it is always good to be back in my own bed. Three highlights stand out. I stayed overnight with my Aunt Olga, whom I have only seen for a few hours every couple of years. It was a real treat to visit her. I visited friends in Ottawa, which is always an encouragement. And, I got to visit family back home on PEI. I once wrote a song which begins, "Its hard to drive with tears in your eyes." The words come to me every time I leave.

Today we start a new On Fire series. This one will focus on David. I love scripture because its real. It shows life at its best and worst, and we will see both in David. Yet, David was a man after God's own heart. We're going to learn lots about faith and character through him.

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1 Samuel 16:6-13

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1Samuel 16:7*)

I remember very clearly when I was 14. I was in grade 9 at Athena Intermediate School in Summerside PEI. I was definitely a geeky, shy, asthmatic, overweight nerdy type. I actually weigh less now than I did then. There was a group of us which hung around together which helped keep me from feeling as isolated as I might have, but I felt like I didn’t quite fit with most of the other students. I wasn’t good-looking or athletic, and marched to the beat of a different drummer.

It took quite a while for the things which made me kind of nerdy and "undersireable" then to become assets for me. I loved learning and did well in school. This continues to be a strength. I saw things differently from many. This helps me as I try not to conform to the world, like Paul tells us in Romans 12:2.

I can now look back on all of this positively, but at the age of 14 I wondered. I didn’t feel very good about myself or my ability to accomplish anything significant.

Something happened during that time which changed things for me. I sensed God calling me into ministry. It wasn’t a lightening bolt out of the blue, or a vision, or someone telling me I should. Rather, it was simply a sense of knowing what I should do. It made me feel a lot better about myself. There was something about it which excited me inside - God could use even me. I had a new sense that God loved me, cared for me, and had something special for me to do.

I was thinking about my teen years as I read this passage. We can’t say for certain how old David was, but we know that he was old enough to take on responsibilities to tend the sheep (v.11), but not old enough to join his brothers in battle. (17:14-15) I picture him as somewhere around the age of 14.

In a lot of ways he would have been seen as deficient or lacking. He was not as big as his brothers. He was the youngest and therefore had few rights to an inheritance. While his older brothers would eventually take over the farm, he would rank little higher than a servant. His brothers looked down on him (17:28). In short, he was the runt of the litter and the possibilities for the future were limited.

However, on the day Samuel showed up at David’s house to anoint a new king, Samuel did not anoint any of the older, taller, better looking sons. The choice for leader seemed obvious to Samuel, but that wasn’t the case. God doesn’t see things the way we do. We see great looks and handsome features, resumes and accolades, power and influence, money fame and fortune. David was not the most likely choice for king. But God saw things differently.

Sometimes we feel lacking or deficient. We doubt our abilities and ask, "What do I have to offer God?" We look at our lives, and we wonder, "How could God use me?" We look at age as a problem. Too young and we don’t have respectability or responsibility, too old and we lack new possibilities. But then there is the word of hope - "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at."

We may look at our lives and wonder about the possibilities for the future, but the Lord does not look at the things we look at. We see circumstances, God sees the heart. The key is in our heart’s desire. Do we want to serve God whole-heartedly? Are we willing to step out in trust?

I hope this helps. Be On Fire.

Troy

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ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. This letter published August 21, 2005. www.onfireletter.com