Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 1 Samuel 16:10
All around the nation, there are elections going on nearly all the time. People work on voting for others, going into many different types of government positions or positions in a business, in an organization, or even in a church.
Choosing who should be in each position is often done by looking at what the person can or cannot do and what he has done in the past. Sometimes people will also look at the character of the person to help make their choice as to who to vote for.
Rarely do people actually seek God’s answer as to who to choose and to go with His answer.
God had told Samuel that He had rejected Saul as the king and wanted to anoint another to become king. He sent Samuel to the home of Jesse to anoint one of his sons to become king. Jesse brings his first seven older sons to Samuel, leaving behind the youngest.
As each of the older ones passed by Samuel, Samuel thought each might be the one for various outside appearance reasons, yet God rejected each one. God had already made the choice of the youngest, David. Samuel would not choose any that was not chosen by God.
In the same way as Samuel has acted, every believer needs to seek God’s direction in choosing someone for a position or to make any decisions in their lives. Outside appearances of a person can be deceiving. Humans only see the outside, while God sees the entire heart of the person. He is looking for people who will serve Him with all of their heart.
Allowing God to make the choice does not always look the wisest, yet it is always the best choice. Those who serve God are the ones God wants to choose.
There will be times you will need to make a choice. It could be for voting for someone for a person or it could be some other choice. Either way, you must bring the choice before God and allow Him to make the decision. Allow God to guide you in what choice you make.
David later became one of the greatest kings Israel ever had. Your choice may be the one that impacts the world, because you allowed God to make the choice.
Today, I pray that God will guide you in the choices you need to make; that you will allow God to put His choice of people into positions; that you will seek God for every choice needed to be made; and that God will work through you to touch the world.
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This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Insights from Tom
