Sunday Devotion: Do You See What I See?—The Heart of The Matter. (April 24th, 2022)

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    Do you see what I see? Those are words God may be asking us. Do we see ourselves as God see us? Really, how do we see ourselves? And How does God see us?

    Ephesians 2:10 states: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” And in Psalms 139:13-14, King David spoke for all of us when he said to God, “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful..”

   

    Our gifts, our hearts’ desires, our divine callings, and even the color of our hair and eyes were chosen by God in advance and so were the plans He has for our lives and continues to have for our lives, for “He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper and not be harmed, plans for hope and a future.”(Jeremiah 29:11).

    So we are God’s masterpieces, each of us works of art. And God is watching us grow every second of every day; He sees our struggles; we are loved by Him and He knows our hearts.

    And knowing our hearts is key because this is the lens through which God views us. In other words, how  God sees us is through our hearts.

    Seeing us in this way allows Him to see us—not as the world might sees us, not as we may see ourselves, but as He see us—wholly and completely.

   

    When God sent the Prophet Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as King of Israel, God said to Samuel, “You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”  (1 Samuel 16:3). When Samuel saw Jesse’s son Eliab, Samuel thought for certain Eliab was the one he was to anoint as the next King of Israel. But Samuel  was incorrect—it was not Eliab that God had selected. As God  told Samuel that, God also said:

    Samuel was looking at Eliab through worldly eyes based on how Eliab “appeared”,  only looking on the surface, not delving any deeper.

    Sometimes when others see us they look at us only from a surface-level too: our physical appearance, our car, our accent, our friends and everything about us that has nothing to do with who we are on the inside and our heart. Sometimes we may look at ourselves from this surface-level perspective, too.  But if we are to see ourselves as God truly sees us, we must delve deeper--into our heart.

   

    God ended up choosing Jesse’s son David to become King of Israel because of David’s heart.  It seemed David’s father Jesse did not even think David would have been chosen by God to be King of Israel because Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel to choose from but Jesse made no mention of his son David. Jesse was probably only looking at David on the surface. For one, David was the youngest out of the eight sons. And two, David was a shepherd (Many scholars believe shepherds were frowned upon in Israel during that period.).

    It was only after Samuel asked Jesse if the seven sons Jesse presented were all the sons Jesse had that Jesse mentioned David, stating: “There is still the youngest. He is tending the sheep.”

    This shows David was an afterthought; his own father didn’t even think he would be chosen. But he was chosen—he was the one. And he became one of the greatest Kings Israel ever had. And it all started with his heart.

   

    So how do you see yourself? Do you look at yourself by looking into your heart like God looked at David through David's heart? Or do you only look at the surface like David's father Jesse did and like Samuel did with Eliab? In other words, do you only look at things like your accomplishments, your looks, your status or do you delve deeper into your innermost being and see yourself as God sees you? This is how God desires for you to see yourself—as He sees you. And it’s time for you to see yourself in that way, too!

    So search your heart and look at your life experiences and yourself from this perspective—going as far as you can so you can really see yourself. Forget about your past mistakes, your possessions, or how you think other people might view you or anything else that might interfere with seeing the real you God sees. And when you are finished, embrace yourself because God is already embracing you! He loves you!