The Little One הקטן

        A man of God comes to a small town in the land of Judah. The men of the town were frightened; they inquired the man about his intentions. Thankfully, the man only wanted peace, and invited one of the families in town for a sacrificial meal. If you know the story, the man of God was Samuel. The town, he arrived in, was Bethlehem. Why? Well, God personally instructed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint a king for Israel that God chose. Wait: didn’t Israel already have a king? Wasn’t the name of that king: Saul? Yes… However, Saul was the people’s chosen king—not God’s chosen king. Saul did what was right in his own eyes, and disobeyed God on just about every occasion. Saul didn’t want to obey and love God from the heart. Saul’s heart wasn’t right before God, so God rejected him as king over Israel.

        Samuel knew Saul’s actions; he also knew God’s response to those actions. Israel’s judge obeyed God, and searched to find a new king for Israel that would have a heart like His. A heart Saul didn’t have. So, Samuel’s in Bethlehem looking for this new king, and God told Samuel to invite Jesse and his sons to eat with him. Samuel did. Jesse is the son of Obed, and Obed is the son of Boaz—the same Boaz that married Ruth. That story is in the Book of Ruth. Boaz is the son of Salmon—the same Salmon that married Rahab from Jericho. I got the feeling that Jesse has an impressive lineage of personalities. If you were Jesse and you looked back on your family history, you might be proud of your family wouldn’t you? Keep that in mind. Samuel asked Jesse to allow him to look at each and every one of Jesse’s sons. Samuel saw the firstborn named Eliab. He saw his stature, and thought he was the king. Nope! God rejected him.

        Why did God do such a thing? Eliab must have been the right man to be king, right?  He has the stature—well so did Saul and look what happened to him. Then, God explains why to Samuel: “Do not look at his appearance or on the height of his stature, (Sounds familiar—reminds you of Saul perhaps?) Because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7). Ah, so that’s why Saul was rejected and 7 of Jesse’s sons were rejected: their heart wasn’t like God’s heart. Samuel gets confused: he saw, what he thought, was all the sons of Jesse. He had to ask Jesse if all his sons were present. Jesse said with a pinch of pride and annoyance: “There remains the little one, and here he is keeping the flock of sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11).

Yes, he said: “the little one”. The word, in Hebrew, is Hakatan (הקטן), which has several meanings. It could mean small, little, young, inconsequential, or insignificant. Yes, this shepherd boy was the youngest of his siblings, but no one wanted him to come before Samuel to be examined for kingship. He was a shepherd’s boy, and will always be a shepherd’s boy. Could you get the feeling that the family didn’t see this shepherd boy as anything except what they thought he should be? They didn’t think of the boy as being significant or worthy enough to be even considered for royalty. But, God saw something significant. Samuel told Jesse to send him in, or no one would eat. Of course, if you want to eat, you have to have the shepherd boy come in. So, he came in.

Samuel examined that ruggy yet bright eyed boy. Instantly, God said: “Arise, anoint him; for this is he” (1 Samuel 16:12). Samuel did so, and returned home to Ramah. Who was that insignificant, shepherd boy? King David of the United Kingdom of Israel!!!

The Storm

        I have a hard time expressing deep, personal feelings to others—especially people that I don’t trust. Well, even those I do trust. But, one of the things that I had learned lately is this: revealing yourself to others is a part of valuing them. You trust that person enough to open up yourself to them—even at the risk of being hurt severely. I wish to open my heart out to you all—my readers—starting with this blog.

Imagine the sound of thunder heard in the distance and rain starts to fall as a mist, then the mist become droplets and the thunder gets louder and more frequent. The wind blows, and become harder and harder to walk through. The rain pours heavily. Soaked and searching for shelter from the storm, you see clouds spinning in the distance—it’s coming toward you! You panic: not sure what to do or where to go.

        That’s how I feel about my spiritual life right now. I have a storm raging around me, and I can only do so much to deal with it. I am faced with school, work, studies, people (especially people), and rushing from place to place. All the while I try my best to put in at least two good prayers a day, and 30 minutes of bible study—which I admit I don’t always make the time to do lately. I run around a lot. It’s like society forces God out by being busy. I don’t like it at all! The storm overwhelms you, and you just fall to the ground. But, what do you do when you’re on the ground? Do you give up? Do you let the storm overcome you? Or, do you let God overcome the storm?

        These are questions I ask myself. It’s a choice; let the storm win, or let God win. You can’t handle life’s storms by yourself: it will toss you around in a funnel. Its chaos would break the bravest of men. The storm will get you soaked, get you scared, and get you anxious. God will give you cleansing, give you courage, and give you confidence. God loves you. So, I ponder these things, and I made a decision to let God win. I choose to stand and face the storm with humble confidence and courage. God will see to it that I get through it with lessons learned and strengthened faith in Him.

Giving Happy Thanks

        I decided to take a short trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan for Thanksgiving: I haven’t seen my family in a while and I wanted to see my mother as well as my nieces and nephews. I drove 8 hours from Lexington, Kentucky. It was a pleasant drive with singing, praying, and enduring constant rain—it, literally, did rain constantly since I started my adventure. I drove through three states (Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan); this was my first 8 hour drive I had ever done. It’s a real confidence builder. God has been very gracious to me to be able to do this in order to see family in Michigan. I am thankful for the opportunity and thankful for God’s protection and guidance on my way to my former dwelling place. Thank you, O Lord God.

        Its thanksgiving—shouldn’t I be thankful to God? Well, I am. God gave me a computer to use, a car to drive with insurance, a job, food, Ale8 : ), and more. Why should I not be thankful? I live in one of the most blessed countries on the earth. And now, it’s that time for me as an American to stop and think about what I am thankful for. God has richly blessed this nation: not because the nation deserves the blessings, but because He is good and faithful to His promises. I know some of you might be thinking: “Promises? What promises? It was the Indians who gave the Pilgrims food, and not God.” Maybe… I am not entirely sure about the origins of Thanksgiving. But, I do know that Thanksgiving was an American National Holiday based on biblical principles. You know: giving and thanks.

        I love both concepts because they’re godly ideas that focus outside the self. To give to someone else freely is to never think of getting anything in return. To thank someone with a sincere, honest heart is also giving to someone else without expecting anything in return. If someone thanks you for something or someone gives you something, let the love in with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the one time of the year for Americans to think about being selfless. I do believe that being selfless should be a daily attitude of life. However, I am very grateful for the original intent of the holiday: to give thanks to God. So, please don’t forget to give your sincerest, most honest thanks to God. God deserves all of our richest gifts, thanks, and praise for the blessings He freely gives us.

That Look In Your Eyes

        I thought it fitting to begin my journey, with this blog, with an explanation for the name of it. The phrase “That look in your eyes” was from a line in a song called “Remember Me” by Kutless. It was the first line in their song, and I felt compelled to use it. The line, and the song itself, reminded me of the Apostle Peter. Peter was a very courageous, strong personality type, but often got himself into things without actually thinking them through. One example of that was when he walked on water. At first, his focus was on Christ, but when he started to doubt and turned to see the storm, he began to sink. He cried to Jesus wanting Him to save him, which He faithfully did, but said, “Why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:22-33). It makes you wonder about Peter as a disciple: how much did he value Jesus Christ at the time?

        There were, and going to be, times when I doubt and focus on the storm instead of on God. It’s hard to focus on God when the storm rages around you. But, how much value do I place on God? Is God the most important thing in my life? Do I just half-heartedly agree to His commands and go on with my daily life? I hope you honestly ask yourself these questions too. I cannot say that Peter did not value God with all of his being because he wouldn’t have been an apostle of Christ to the circumcised if he didn’t. However, Peter didn’t really know his own worth until the night that Jesus was taken before the High Priest, and Peter was outside warming himself (Luke 22:54-62).

        Yes, if you know the story, Peter did deny Jesus three times, but there’s something that you may not know. When the cock crowed after the third denial, Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). Can you imagine the fire in the eyes of Him? He wasn’t angry or disappointed at Peter. Jesus was giving everything He got into what He was doing, and He found time to turn around and look at Peter with all the passion and determination of a hero. The eyes of Jesus must have told Peter: “I love you; I value you. You knew this would happen, and you denied me three times anyways.” I can see why Peter wept bitterly: he saw the passion and determination that he wanted but was never able to give. I’m sure Peter would put all of his being into valuing and loving God after that look. He did.

        So, what does all that have to do with this blog? Simple: I place great value on God and my readers, and I don’t want to waste your time, and His : ), on content that’s meaningless or unloving. That is what this blog is about. My hope is that God would inspire and influence the reader to take the jewels of truth from the blog, and use them in your daily lives. I also hope that the readers would see the love of God through the words I give.