It’s a matter of the heart. After all, today is Valentines Day and expressions of love are supposed to be abundant. We all know that there are too many ways and instances that people of all ages do not know love in their lives in appropriate or meaningful ways.
I was listening to a Christian radio station yesterday and I just caught the end of something the host was sharing. He mentioned that Valentines Day was so close but to remember that even though there is a lot of market push surrounding romantic love and matters of the heart in glowing positive ways; we need to be aware that not everyone is in that place and the holiday hype can be hard. He ended with a great sentence. A paraphrase to his listeners: but don’t you worry, wherever you are, your heart is just fine. You are just fine because you are surrounded by the love of God and connection to him can be the heart you truly need to know.
It was a beautiful little message between songs. Just giving us all the permission to feel okay about ourselves even if our hearts and lives may not match up to the super perfect market image projected for the purpose of making money. Money can be a gift but God’s gifts provide manna for our hearts and souls.
I read in 1 Samuel how God led the prophet Samuel to be an instrument for Him in selecting a king to follow King Saul. Saul had turned away from God and God determined no one of Saul’s lineage would be the next king. Samuel is a mighty bit concerned about keeping his life if Saul learns that he is going to help God anoint a new king. But God arranges everything for him – read for yourself what God says about the desire to focus on the outward trappings of what makes a man seem like a good king. He has no time for Samuel’s own ideas of who might be a great choice based on the marketing of the day and sets him straight about how to pick a true king.
As the Lord requested, Samuel invited Jesse and his sons to a ritual sacrifice as cover for this king selection. Samuel surveyed the grouping and his eyes were immediately drawn to Jesse’s son Eliab and he thought he was looking at the next king.
But God knew his (and our) human ways. Read I Samuel 16:6-7, and portions of 11-13
6When they had arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
7But 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.”
Interesting right?! We are easily misled and put our hope and trust and expectations in the ways of this world. God looks on. He knows.
So as the story unfolds, none of the sons of Jesse who passed by Samuel were the chosen one. So, in verses 11-13, Samuel is forced to query Jesse: “Are these all the sons you have?”
Aha! There is an interesting reply from Jesse. “There is still the youngest. He is tending the sheep.” Well, Samuel is not even going to sit down while he waited for them to go out and bring this youngest son in from the fields. Finally, in comes the young man. “Then the Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; this is the one.’”
Samuel followed the lead of the Lord and “so Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.” Maybe David didn’t look like a king that day, though they say he was handsome, but God had looked at his heart and knew him to be the king. David went through many adventures and time of strife, like his brothers’ jealousy fueled acts of betrayal toward him, before he became king. Watch the musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat if you want a fun rendering of the story to see how challenged he was in his life. God loved him but he and his life did not present the a modern day poster child for the look of love in our modern day marketing world.
That’s why I loved it when the radio host said you and your heart are okay in the humblest of tones. That host knew that God is not interested in our outward appearance or looks or social standing, yet he is infinitely interested in our hearts. Meaning that: time after time without fail God has come through for you and your heart no matter the condition He has done this unfailingly through the ages from Samuel and David to us right now. I just am certain God moves in and around this place of his creation and knows our real hearts deeply.
God knows you and says step into my heart for there is already a place for you. Step away from the real world chaos and messaging that can make you feel negative about yourself. Step closer, you know the direction I’m talking about, and celebrate this day with a joyful heart. I stake any quantity of Reese’s Peanut Butter Hearts on the fact that we are more than okay in the hands and heart of God! ♥️
~Shauna Weil
A Devotion provided by the Devotion Ministry of Goodrich UMC
Take a listen to Zach Williams as his rough edged voice shares the pain we can all feel in our aloneness and our idea that others may judge us unworthy in his song Heart of God. Come on, step right in.