Skip to main content

Learning About God, Learning About Us


Is it possible that at the same time God reveals truth about Himself, He is also revealing the truth about us? For example, I've always read the story of Samuel anointing David the same way. While God is busy rejecting David's older brothers, He tells Samuel that man looks at the outward appearance while God looks at the heart. The focus is on God. He's more focused on the inside and all that.


I wrote that as if it's no big deal and everybody gets it. Understanding that we do not, let's move on to the point I want to make.

Why are we so often surprised when people judge us by our outward appearances? Didn't God say that man looks at the outward appearance? He might not have said He was okay with this way of viewing people, but at least God warned us.

It's like being surprised when someone tells you a certain type of food is hot. It doesn't seem to slow us down from popping it in our mouths and then turning red in the face and searching for water. Didn't they say it was hot? What exactly were we expecting?

I discuss with people, quite frequently, how we should be focused on God and how it is all about God and not about us. This is true, but the questions that get us looking for God and His purposes are usually centered on us. Who are we? What is our purpose?

What we learn about God also teaches us about ourselves. It most often shows us what we are not. It tells us what we can become. It gives us hope for what should be.

So keep asking questions. Keep pursuing the answers. But don't be surprised when people still judge you by the outward appearance.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl
Post a Comment
Read more

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a
Post a Comment
Read more

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d
Post a Comment
Read more