God’s View

September 6, 2023

I’ve taken a few photos that turned out better, not because of what I intended, but what happened unintentionally. This is one. When I took this photo, I focused on the image in the mirror. It wasn’t my intention that the surroundings be out of focus, they just happened to turn out that way.

However, as often happens, there’s encouragement for me in this picture.

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I have this self-image that often says I am “less than.” I see myself as less than the healthy person I should be. Less than the writer I should be. I am less than the speaker I should be. The list could go on and on. Sometimes my self analysis spurs me on to be better, but sometimes it causes me to want to give up.

These “less than” feelings often occur because I’m comparing myself to someone else. There is always someone healthier (skinner, taller, more handsome, or more athletic). There are way too many to count who are better writers. Tons who are better speakers. This is never going to change.

You may be in that same situation. Maybe there are areas of life that you seem to always view as “less than.” Do you allow how others view you to be the scale for viewing yourself? Do you compare yourself to someone else’s abilities, talents, skills, or gifts?

It’s easy to do—believe me. And you probably don’t need me to tell you that.

Here’s the encouragement.

God doesn’t look at us the way others look at us.

When God wanted to replace Saul as king, He sent Samuel to Bethlehem to select one of Jesse’s sons. The Bible tells us that Jesse paraded each of his sons in front of Samuel. When the eldest son, Eliab, came out first, Samuel was impressed. No doubt he compared what he saw against what he thought would make a good king. The bible tells us he thought, “Surely this is the one the Lord will pick.”

But look what God told 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.” (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV)

We often fall into the trap of looking at things people look at. Of course, we do, we’re people. We tend to measure someone by how well they do this or that. We compare one against the other. We compare ourselves to everyone else.

But praise God, He does not look at the things people look at. The Lord looks at the heart.

And guess what? The matter of your heart is between you and God.

When I look at this photo, I’m reminded that people may look at me and say, “He’s less than…”, but God looks deep into my heart to see if I have a heart after Him. That’s what matters.