What Potential Does God See In You?

5 February, 20224 February, 2022Marissa

We know God’s mind works differently than human minds do. He knows more fully, sees the big picture, and understands motives in a way that we can’t. His thoughts aren’t like our thoughts nor His ways like our ways (Is. 55:8). This means that when He looks at human beings, He often sees something different than others see, or even something different than the person sees about themselves.

Yahweh, you have searched me,
and you know me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
Psalm 139:1-4, WEB

There’s a comfort as well as a nervousness that can go along with being known this well. We may long for someone to really know the truest version of us, but the idea of being fully seen can also be frightening. It’s reassuring, then, to look at what God shares in His word about how He sees the people He works with. In many cases, He has a higher opinion of us than others do and a greater belief in our potential than we do ourselves.

Gideon

In the book of Judges we see a pattern emerge in Israel’s history. After the death of Joshua, the people would rebel against God, God would punish them using their enemies, they’d turn back to God, and He’d raise up a judge to deliver them and guide them back toward righteousness. This went on for many years. At one point, “The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, so Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years” (Judges 6:1, WEB). When they cried out to God for help, God called Gideon as the next judge.

Yahweh’s angel came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. Yahweh’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Judges 6:11-12, WEB

Gideon is hiding in a winepress trying to thresh wheat when the angel shows up with this greeting. Then a little later, when Yahweh tells Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal that Gideon’s father had created, Gideon “did as Yahweh had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night” (Jug. 6:27, WEB). Again, he hid what he was doing because he was afraid. Gideon is also the one who famously asked Yahweh for a sign twice before he could muster the courage to go and do as Yahweh commanded in order to drive out the Midianites (Jug. 6:36-40).

That doesn’t sound much like a “mighty man of valor” to us. It sounds like someone with low self-confidence and a lot of fears and worries to overcome. But God saw something different, and He used Gideon in mighty ways (Judges 6-7). Gideon’s fear, second-guessing, and his statement that “my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Jug. 6:15) didn’t stop God from doing something mighty with him.

Image of purple crocus buds in the snow, with text from Hebrews 11:32-33, NET version: “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell
of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised" — Image by jplenio from Pixabay

David

King David is the most well-known example of God looking past the outward appearance. In this story, God sent Samuel to Jesse’s house with instructions to anoint one of his sons as the next king of Israel. When Samuel sees the first son he’s so impressed he says, “Surely Yahweh’s anointed is before him.” God has a different perspective (1 Samuel 16).

But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7, WEB

They go through seven sons before finally running out of the ones that are close at hand. Brining in David is an afterthought; he’s just the youngest boy, out tending the sheep. He wasn’t important enough for his dad to call him to the sacrifice earlier in this narrative and he certainly wasn’t one of the options for being the next king of Israel. God turns that expectation up-side-down. David becomes the greatest king of Israel. God even calls him “a man after my heart” (Acts 13:22, WEB). Once again, God sees potential for greatness in someone others overlooked.

Image of yellow crocus buds in the snow, with text from Acts 13:22, NET version: “God raised up David their king. He testified about him:
‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’" — Image by M W from Pixabay

Hannah

At the beginning of 1 Samuel we’re introduced to Hannah. She was one of two wives of an Ephramite named Elkanah. Her husband loved her, but she had no children and the other wife teased her mercilessly for it, especially when her family went to Shiloh to worship at Yahweh’s temple. One year, grieving Hannah goes off alone to beg Yahweh for a son. She was “in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly.”

Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of Yahweh’s temple. … As she continued praying before Yahweh, Eli saw her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”
1 Sam. 1:9, 12-14 WEB

The priest thought she was drunk and accused her without knowing all the facts. Eli softened toward her when he heard her story, but God already saw her heart and heard the prayer she spoke in His temple. The next time “Elkanah knew Hannah his wife,” we’re told “Yahweh remembered her. When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel” (1 Sam. 1:19-20, WEB). It’s not just the kings and great leaders that God sees with compassion and clarity. It’s also those longing for specific blessings and desiring good things in line with His will.

Image of frozen flower buds, with text from 1 Samuel 1:24-27, WEB version: “When she had weaned him, she took him up with her ... and brought the child to Eli. She said, ‘Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him.’” — Image by Jaesung An from Pixabay

Moses

Moses grew up as a prince of Egypt, then fled after murdering an Egyptian. He spent 40 years as a shepherd before God showed up in the burning bush and told Moses that he’d be the one God used to deliver Egypt (Exodus 3-4). Moses was understandably shocked by this.

Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” …
Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’” …
Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” …
Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”
Exodus 3: 11; 4: 1, 10, 13

Moses saw himself as unable to speak, utterly unqualified, and unwilling to do something so dangerous and so great. God had an answer for each of these protests, promising Moses could do what needed to be done because God would be there providing guidance and power. They finally reach a sort of compromise, with God letting Moses’s bother Aaron act as spokesman. Despite this rocky start, God helped Moses live up to the potential He saw in him. Moses even became one of God’s closest friends (Ex. 33:11; Num. 12:6-8).

What About Us?

Image of purple crocuses in the snow with the blog's title text and the words "When God looks at human beings, He often has a higher opinion of us than others do and a greater belief in our potential than we do ourselves." — Image by Ralph Häusler from Pixabay

Those are just four of many examples in the Bible of God seeing something in people that no one else did. Gideon was hiding and uncertain, David was overlooked by his family, Hannah was misinterpreted and rebuked by a priest, and Moses was convinced he couldn’t do the things God called him to do. But God looked at those situations and saw great potential for valor, kingship, motherhood, and leadership.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11, WEB

I’ve written before about how God defines our identities in Him. God sees you as someone worth dying for (Rom. 5:8). He says you belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-21). He sees you as salt and light in this earth (Matt. 5:13-14). He says you are called, holy, and chosen (1 Pet. 2:9). You are friends and siblings of Jesus Christ (John 15:14, Rom. 8:16-17). You are greatly loved and highly valued by both the Father and the Son (John 3:16; 15:13-14). We’re precious to God and He sees a glorious future for us where we’re part of His family, partaking in His divine nature. In Him, we can be courageous overcomers, recipients of abundant blessings, and eventually kings and priests in His kingdom (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:7-10). That’s the potential God sees in each of us.

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Featured image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “You Say” by Lauren Daigle

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Titles of Jesus Christ: David’s Son

25 July, 202024 July, 2020Marissa

Over and over in the gospels, people cry out to Jesus, “Have mercy on us, you son of David!”

Why is the Messiah’s title as David’s son the one that blind men and a Canaanite woman latched on to as they asked for healing? (Matt. 9:27; 15:22; 20:30-31; Mark 10:46-48; Luke 18:35-39). Why did the people shout, “Hosanna to the son of David!” when Jesus entered Jerusalem, and why did that make the chief priests and the scribes so indignant? (Matt. 21:9, 15; Mark 11:10). What is the significance of this title?

It would be easy to gloss over Jesus’ title as David’s son, simply taking it as fulfillment of a few prophecies that said Messiah (the Hebrew equivalent to “Christ,” which means “anointed”) would come from King David’s descendants. But the Biblical writers treat this as a highly significant fact, and I think it’s worth looking into more closely.

Fulling A Covenant Promise

I’ve talked about the covenant aspect of Jesus being descended from David in several posts already, including “Inheriting Covenants.” The Lord made a covenant with David that He would establish his offspring’s kingdom forever, and that connected with the promise of Messiah (2 Sam. 7:12-15).

Yahweh has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne. If your children will keep my covenant, my testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit on your throne forever more.” (Ps. 132:11-12, all verses from WEB translation)

David’s descendants eventually fell into disobedience and lost the physical kingdoms of Israel and Judah. But Jesus — a sinless, obedient son of David — inherited the covenant promise. According to Peter, David actually knew that would be the end result of God’s promises to him about his descendants. Read more →

Too Proud To Follow God

28 January, 201727 January, 2017Marissa

I’ll bet none of us would just come out and say, “I know better than God” or “God’s wrong and I’m right.” We recognize that as arrogant, inaccurate, and fool-hardy. But far too often, we act like that’s what we think even if we’re not saying or even consciously thinking those words. We come up with reasons why we don’t have to keep His commands, or decide we have a better idea for how to obey than what’s instructed in scripture. We try to come figure out what being Christian means to us rather than seeking what it means to God.

The stories of Israel’s first two kings perfectly illustrate the different ways we humans can approach following God. Saul did what was right in his own eyes while pretending to follow God, and God wasn’t impressed. He took the kingdom away from Saul and his family to set up David, someone who would truly follow after God’s heart and listen to His commands.

Saul’s Prideful Disobedience

God chose Saul out of all the people, just as He later would David. It wasn’t His intention that Saul fail. But just two years into his reign, Saul found himself facing an army so terrifying his own troops ran and hid in caves. He waited seven days for Samuel the priest to come and offer sacrifice to God, but Samuel didn’t show.

That’s when Saul committed a sin that cost him the kingdom (1 Sam. 13). He made the decision to offer the sacrifice himself, showing a presumptuous disregard for God’s instructions. When Samuel showed up, Saul had all sorts of arguments to justify his actions but they didn’t change the fact that he’d ignored God’s will. Read more →

Lessons From The Dance

3 December, 20163 December, 2016Marissa

Due to wisdom tooth surgery on Thursday I’m not dancing this morning (it all went very well, praise God and thanks to a good dentist, but I’ve been advised not to risk dislodging the blood clot that’s helping it heal by any sort of vigorous exercise so soon after surgery). But I was very tempted to risk it and I’m still wishing I could have danced. (Update: 1 hour after this posted, I showed up at church and they’d changed to slower songs so I did get to dance. Hallelujah!)

For those who that last paragraph left a bit confused, I’m referring to what’s known as Davidic or Messianic dance. It’s easier to show a video than to try to describe it in words. Here’s my dance team (several years before I met them) dancing to one of our very favorite songs:

I joined a Messianic dance team early in 2015. My first introduction to the dance was about a year before that, when a dancer shared some basic lessons at a Feast of Unleavened Bread event in Michigan. I absolutely loved it, and I picked up the dances so quickly my mentors say that God has given me a gift for the dance (there’s really no other way to explain why I’m good at it — normally I’m rather clumsy).

Dancing at church, especially to open the service, seems a bit odd to many Christian denominations. But there is Biblical precedent for dance as part of worship and I’ve found the inclusion of dance (and especially being involved in the dance) is a blessing I hadn’t expected. And it has taught me some valuable lessons about dancing in unity with God on a spiritual level.

Basics First

When you’re first learning to dance, you have to start with the basic steps. We don’t just expect new students to know how to do the Hallelu dance. First, we teach them how to do the mayim, tcherkessia, coupe, and 3-point turn that make up the Hallelu step combination. As they learn the basic steps, we start putting the steps together into patterns to match the different songs. And we keep going over and over those basic steps for the first couple months after new dancers join because they’re the basis for every dance we do.

It’s much the same when we first begin our Christian journey. We start out learning about the foundations of repentance and faith. We learn that we should “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Then we learn how to apply those truths in every day situations.

As we grow, God deepens our understanding and adds more foundational principles like “the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment” (Heb. 6:1-3). Then we learn more about His expectations for those following Him, what grace truly means, how He wants us to view His commandments, and practical ways to follow Jesus with every step we take. But it all starts with the basics.

Listen To The Music

Even if you know the basic dance steps, they’re not worth much until you set them to music. Music is so much a part of the dance that our dance leader often has trouble recollecting the steps of a dance when she’s trying to walk through and teach them slowly without music. As soon as the music plays, though, it all comes back to her.

You can’t dance without listening to the music. A waltz calls for different steps than a tune in 4/4 time. In some songs, you need to wait for pauses in the music. For others, you have to be thinking two steps ahead because the music moves so fast. Often, listening to the lyrics tells you which part of the dance you’re supposed to be doing in multi-part dances.

In the same way, we have to “tune” our Christian walks to the song God plays through His scriptures. While the Bible doesn’t use the dancing analogy much, it does talk about Jesus coming “to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78) and of God directing the steps of good men (Psalm 37:23, 31; 119:133). We have to study His words so we know the right steps and we need to listen for the guiding of His spirit for how to apply what we learn.

Dance Together

Davidic dance isn’t a solo endeavor. We dance in circles of unity. Every dancer is responsible for knowing the steps to a given dance and how to follow the music. But there are some songs that just don’t stick in your mind as well and there are times (even when you’re no longer a beginner) that you just can’t remember what comes next.

If you can’t remember a step, you can follow one of the other dancers. You’re already watching them to keep in unity, and you know you can count on them for reminders. In turn, they should know they can count on you to know what you’re doing for when they can’t remember a step. We help keep each other on track.

Walking as Christians is made easier by fellowship with other believers. While God will certainly work with people who are isolated from other Christians, His intention is for the body of believers to come together and grow as we build each other up and learn to use our gifts (1 Cor. 12:1-31). We’re on this walk of faith together and we have the opportunity to help each other find the right steps to stay in unity with God.

Lessons From The Dance | marissabaker.wordpress.com — photo credit: “Messianic Dance Troup” by Larry Jacobsen, CC BY via Flickr

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