Outward appearances deceive

(Resolving Personal & Spiritual Conflicts)

1 Samuel 16:7b … for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearances, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Outward appearances are usually misleading. The popular statement, ‘Do not judge a book by its cover” is so true in many situations. Goliath despised David and judged him unfit as his challenge in battle. It is written in 1 Samuel 17:42, “And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of fair countenance.” You see, David was challenged by Goliath mainly because he looked young and small. The same happens to us in many situations. People challenge you and try to take advantage of you because you look ignorant, innocent, easy-to-handle, and a person of no significance. Some things challenge you because you appear to be weak, frail and harmless.

But it is time you challenge your challenges in spite of your outward appearances.  Your challenges should learn the lesson that when it comes to fighting, spiritually or physically, it is not the size of the body that counts but the size of the heart. It is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Fill up your heart with confidence, faith and trust in the power of the greater one who is in your heart and give your challenges an unpleasant surprise.  You need to know that God is your strength. God appears in the scriptures to take the side of the despised, the undermined, the underrated and the helpless and defenceless. For example, He is a God of widows, orphans and the poor. This means He is ready to show Himself strong on behalf of those who appear to be outwardly disadvantaged.

Do not see yourself as a grasshopper. Do not view yourself as insignificant. “Let no man despise thy youth” (1 Timothy 4:12). Feed yourself with God’s word and enlarge your heart with faith and you will thrash those challenges that judge you according to appearances. The principle here is to grow very large on the inside and manifest your inner greatness against challenges that underrate you because of how you look. Rise up and teach your challenges that dynamites come in small packages. You can accomplish great feats for God and serve your generation well if you learn to reject the appearances of things and look on the heart.                
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