Ordinary People: Lessons From Little Known Bible CharactersSample

Eliab: God chooses the unlikely

I wonder if, like me, you were always the last one to get picked for the netball team (or football, or whichever sport your school played)? I meet so many people who tell me that they were always chosen last that I wonder sometimes where the rest of the teams went! My brother was an athlete, so I was a constant disappointment to my P.E. teacher at school who did eventually realize that he had inherited all the sporting genes.

Eliab did not have that problem. The day that Samuel came, ready to anoint the next king of Israel – although the family did not know that yet – Eliab was first in line. Tall, good-looking and the eldest – he had everything going for him. Samuel expected him to be the one. Eliab must have expected to be given some honour from this important visitor. But no: God spoke to Samuel and said He was not interested in the outside appearance, the bit we so often base our judgements on. God was interested in his heart, and he was not the person God had chosen. On the contrary, it was David, who had not even been considered important enough to be fetched home from watching the sheep. God chose the most unlikely member of a family from an obscure town. Interestingly, we find later, in the story about Goliath, that Eliab had a critical and bitter heart. God had seen the reality behind the mask.

I love sparrows. They are so often missed in favour of the more colourful and dramatic birds, but I love their cheerfulness and sociable natures. I think many of us see ourselves the way sparrow are sometimes seen – nothing special, and easy to ignore. Yet God’s view of us is quite different. He loves to choose people who on the outside might be overlooked and partner with them in His work in the world He loves so much. He can choose you.

Reflect: What does it mean for you that God is more interested in your heart than your appearance? Is there something God might be calling you to do that you have disqualified yourself from?

Prayer: Wise God, help me to see myself as You see me and to know that You can choose even me for your special purposes. Amen