1 Samuel 16:6-7
When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel noticed Jesse's oldest son, Eliab. "He has to be the one the LORD has chosen," Samuel said to himself.
But the LORD told him, "Samuel, don't think Eliab is the one just because he's tall and handsome. He isn't the one I've chosen. People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts."
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
There was a time in my early marriage where I got out of bed each morning and immediately dashed to the bathroom to apply my makeup. It wasn’t as if my husband had never seen my bare face, but I felt more confident behind the mask of some foundation, eye shadow and mascara. I would never venture out in public without “having my face on.” When something caught me off guard – an emergency, for instance – and I had to meet the world sans makeup, I felt self-conscious.
There is nothing wrong with looking nice. Dressing neatly, cleanliness, and looking your best says a lot about you. If you care about your appearance, you probably care about other things, like responsibility, hard work, and being conscientious in many areas of life. But sometimes, “life” happens when we are not looking our best. Just ask the ER staff at your local hospital. They see us at all hours of the night and day… often at our worst. My prayer is that these folks have learned to look beyond a person’s outward appearance and see each person authentically. Unfortunately, we humans have a bad habit of judging others by their outward appearance, which fed into my compulsion to always be “made up” for so many years.
Last summer, Timothy woke me very early one morning. He was rarin’ to go, and I did all I could to keep him quiet so that his Uncle Greg could continue to sleep. We went outside to play… he squealed and yelled. I suggested a stroll down the street. We got in front of a neighbor’s house, and he had a screaming meltdown that could wake the dead! (He did not want to ride in the stroller.) It was not even 6:30 a.m. At my wits’ end, I grabbed my purse, quite literally ran my fingers through my hair, plopped Timothy into his car seat, and headed for Wal-Mart. I was wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants… Timothy was dressed in his pj’s and sandals.
We shopped for groceries. People smiled at us and admired the adorable little boy with the beautiful blue eyes. Nobody cared that Timmy was wearing his pajamas – or that I wasn’t wearing makeup and looked like a train wreck. On the ride home, Timothy fell asleep, and I let him snooze in his car seat while I unloaded the groceries. By 7:30 a.m., we had finished our shopping, enjoyed a little power nap, and were ready for breakfast with Uncle Greg.
Several years ago, a youth minister friend of mine named Noble didn’t bathe for a week. He put on really dirty clothes and drove to a nearby town where nobody knew him. A church there was holding a revival, and my friend attended one of the services. Unbeknownst to others in attendance, Noble was friends with the local youth minister, and they had set up this experiment to see how people would react. Noble will tell you that he smelled terrible… he was filthy… and he took a seat front and center in the sanctuary. And as you would expect, people reacted – and not always nicely. Then Noble was introduced by the host minister as his friend – and fellow youth leader. You can imagine the reaction of those who were attending this worship service after hearing this news!
The point is that we are all disheveled and covered with the filth and smell of sin, but God sees beyond this. He doesn’t judge us for our appearance – He looks at our heart. And while we should be respectful of the bodies God has given us and treat them as His temple (which means we need to be as neat and clean as possible and “present” well), we should focus more on what (and WHO) is within us – and how we share this with others.
Do people know you for your possessions, your nice clothes or the car you drive? Do people in your church, school and community circles know you as the person who is always front and center on this committee and project or that one – or the person who can be relied upon to truly get things done? There is a difference! There are plenty of people who want to be in the limelight… to capitalize on the opportunities of appearance… but far fewer who want to authentically show up in the lives of others and be God’s agent on this earth.
When others look at you, who and what do they see? Are you merely “tall and handsome”… or are you the one God has chosen? Today, let’s make our prayer a request to God to humble us and fill us with His wisdom and a genuine desire to serve Him from the depths of our heart. In my notes, I have written, “God formed man… then filled him with life. He doesn’t waste his breath blowing into things that leak.” What about you? Do you “leak” these days… or are you a solid vessel for the LORD and His work? How do others truly see you? More importantly, how are you seen by God?
©2012 Debbie Robus
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