When I’ve had a need for additional staff, my go to has been to pray for God to send me prospects. However, I’ve often been guilty of praying with MY OWN answer in mind—like for someone with paralegal skills or, at the very least, a lot of office experience. But this mindset could very well serve to eliminate the very person God has planned to bless me with! I thank God for the way His Spirit has intervened in my conventional thinking. He has sent me some of the most amazing people!
God is teaching me what He taught the prophet Samuel when He was tasked with choosing a king for Israel.
God told Samuel a King was to be chosen from the sons of Jesse. He went to the home of Jesse and, as the firstborn son, Elian, stood before him, the following conversation took place between God and Samuel:
“So it was, when they came, that Samuel looked at Eliab and said, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!’ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”
I Samuel 16:6-7
What a remarkable guideline for choosing the people we will spend the most time with!!!
This lesson has changed what I value most in a team member. It’s not how they look, how fast they type, how organized they are, or how intelligent they are—but it is the character of their heart. It has also changed the kind of friends I seek. When we find someone who has a heart made gracious and humble by God, —we’ve found a GOLDMINE!
The Bible says,
“God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:6
A humble heart can be taught. A humble heart can be corrected. And a humble heart effusively shares the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, gentleness and meekness—and the pleasure and wisdom of God’s presence!
