By: Steve Wilmot
The population of the world reached eight billion on November 15, 2022, according to the United Nations. Today, both India and China have topped one billion people within their borders. The United States is third with 341 million.
It’s easy to get overlooked among such multitudes. But you can feel like you’re not very important in crowds much smaller than that.
Someone observed, “In some stores you must wait on yourself; in others they hire salespeople to ignore you.”
Can you identify with that? Ignored in a store. Snubbed by an employer for a promotion. Overlooked by your spouse who is addicted to television or obsessed with social media Made to feel unimportant and devalued.
David must have felt like that often. The first time he’s mentioned in Scripture, he’s overlooked and forgotten. Disregarded as qualified. Snubbed by his own father… but not by God.
God saw David, and he sees you. In our reading today from 1 Samuel 16.1-7, you read how God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to a man named Jesse to select one of his sons as the next king of Israel.
The current king had flaunted God’s commands one too many times, so God decided to replace him. Jesse brought forward his first-born son, Eliab. His appearance was impressive.
He looked like a king would look — tall and muscular. When Samuel saw Eliab, he thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord” (1 Samuel 16.6).
But God saw something different and told Samuel, “Nope, not him. Keep looking.” The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16.7).
Six more sons auditioned before Samuel’s gaze, and God eliminated each one. Jesse had shown Samuel all seven of his “qualified” sons. Now what? So, Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”
Jesse had an eighth son, but it didn’t even cross his mind that David might be the man God was looking for. He was a shepherd, after all, not king material. Disqualified. The runt of the family. Only somewhere between 10 and 15 years old. David for king? Not a chance.
But when David was summoned from the field and stood before Samuel, God said, “Rise and anoint him. He is the one” (1 Samuel 16.12). God saw David when no one else did. God sees you, too.
He sees you when you feel abandoned and lonely. He sees you when you’re ignored and pushed to the periphery.
To God, you are not just somebody lost in a sea of eight billion faces. He sees you. You. When you mess up and do that thing you promised Him, you’d never do again, he doesn’t shake his head in disappointment and walk away.
He sees your frustration at failing again, and knows you still love him. He won’t let you wallow in your guilt and shame. He will be quick to remind you that he loves you and accepts you even on your worst day.
He’s interested in what’s going on in your life. He notices what you’re going through and how it affects you. He sees. He cares about you and what matters to you.
One winter, my wife seized a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to spend four days in her favorite place in the world — Mackinac Island, Michigan.
For us, it’s a special place where all our stress and pressures flee our bodies and minds the moment, we step off the ferry onto the dock. Everything is simpler and slower there.
We visit the Island once or twice annually, but never in the winter when tourism is out of season and only a few dozen people are there. My wife has longed for years to see snow on the Island.
Her excitement for this trip was through the roof. The problem was the forecast didn’t call for snow before or while she would be there.
A night or two before she left for the Island, I prayed. “Father, I know in the scope of all the crises and suffering in the world, this doesn’t matter.
But I’ve also learned from experience that you are a God who delights to bless your children with undeserved gifts.
“As you know, my wife is going to Mackinac Island in a few days, and she’d really like to see it covered with snow. There isn’t any on the ground today, and meteorologists don’t see any snow on the way.”
“Will you make it snow on the Island while my wife is there? It doesn’t have to be much, just enough to cover the ground. Would you do that for her, please?”
She arrived on the Island on a Thursday morning, and it started to snow. By the time it let up, five to six inches blanketed everything in sight.
God didn’t have to do that for her, but he saw her and wanted to show her how much she means to him. He sees you, too.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.