Handpicked

Hello friends! I am so delighted to feature a GUEST BLOGGER on my post today. GetUp4Him is a new blogger and her posts are so relatable and so well written. I think you will really be delighted! Here is one she has well titled “Handpicked”, and you can find the original here. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you all will visit her site and get to know her a bit🤍🎈🤗

Handpicked, by Getup4Him:

It’s that time of year again. Just last week we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin to carve. The prices were outrageous so we ended up going to Walmart and skimmed through the many boxed pallets both inside and out to find the perfect pumpkin to pick and to enjoy. This action along with waking up every morning, sometimes feeling grumpy, I think – time to do it again. I’ll buy food that gets eaten. I’ll wash clothes that get dirty again. I’ll sweep floors that will somehow need to be swept again before the day is even done.

Is there more to all this than just doing the tasks of everyday life? One day last week I sat with Jesus before jumping into this daily routine. I found some big truths as I read my Bible and took a little glance into David’s life. Despite how others saw him his own tendency to sin and lack of position in his own family, David had the sweet reassurance of God. And that was enough. Overlooked by everyone else Handpicked by God. To his older brothers, David was young, possibly even a pest. To his father, Jesse, he was just another son. To onlookers, he was a shepherd boy. But to God, David was the one destined to be kind of Israel. And not just any king. He was the bloodline from which Jesus would come. Overlooked by everyone else. Handpicked by God.

In 1 Samuel 16, God reveals to Samuel that he has rejected Saul as king and chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be the replacement. Think of the list of qualifications that must have run through Samuel’s mind for such a position: tall, smart, articulate, brave, well-mannered, a natural born leader. Samuel saw some of these characteristics in Eliab, David’s brother.

“The LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his outward 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.” – I Samuel 16:7

Samuel had Jesse line up all of his sons before him. All of them were to be considered. Yet, Jesse didn’t call David from tending sheep. Was this an oversight? A judgement call or maybe a deliberate choice? Overlooked by everyone else. Handpicked by God. Samuel passes on each of Jesse’s sons and then asks, “Are these all the sons you have?” I imagine Jesse with a expression of quiz on his face, “There is still the youngest… he is tending the sheep.” (1 Samuel 16:11). Overlooked by everyone else. Handpicked by God.

So, as soon as Samuel saw David, he knew he’d found the one. However, he wasn’t immediately ushered to the throne. Nor did he got to a refining school, academy, or Military training. Nope. He went back to the fields and continued to shepherd his flock. A future king whose character was refined in the fields of everyday life to prepare him for his calling.

How like us. In the midst of smelly laundry, dirty dishes, snotty noses, misplaced keys, overdue library books, bills, birthday gifts that still need to be mailed and even pumpkin picking – there is training. There is character building. There is attitude shaping. And so much more. All of which must take place for us to become what God intends. Do you ever feel overlooked? Take heart – we are handpicked by God. We aren’t just doing tasks. We are shaping God’s Kingdom, building a legacy. We are in the process of not only discovering our calling but that our family as well. And I don’t know about you, but it sure does make me look at my everyday tasks (yep. even the smelly laundry) in a whole different light.

Dear Lord, I am grateful that even when I feel overlooked, I can rest in the fact that I am handpicked by You. Thank you for these mundane everyday task that I have. Thank you for the warm home, the fresh food, the clothes on our back. Help me live my life for an audience of One. In Jesus; Name, Amen.

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