Borrowing God's Smile
The last of all the brothers to pass in front of Samuel, the Lord said, "Rise up and anoint him. This is the one." (1 Sam. 16:12)
I know I've talked about David in the past -- about how he chose stones to defeat his giant, but something in my reading caught my attention. As he was being brought before Samuel, the Bible says of young David, "He was glowing with health..." Neat right?
This is the way they described
the shepherd boy from the pastures of Bethlehem;
the shepherd boy who would drop the armor and then drop Goliath;
the shepherd boy who would hide in caves, fight entire armies, lose private battles and write Psalms;
And above all, this is the way they described the shepherd boy who would come to be known as a man after God's own heart.
Now, let’s be clear. God never called us to perfect health. In fact, honoring God with our bodies doesn't mean we'll be fit at all. (A show of hands of those that have been hit with an unforeseen illness.) Besides, you and I know too many missionaries who can't climb ropes to save their own lives, but they've offered themselves up to help save souls.
Believers in the fitness industry need to stable the high horse. If we have the gift of ability, we may glow with health, but may we never gloat with it. If you listened to yesterday’s “The 2nd Mountain” podcast it may help shed light on the fact that sometimes the byproduct of obedience means more muscle and sometimes it means less.
But it's a heart issue. And the only one who sees the heart is God and God alone. The God who sees us through the thick and thin, because He loves us all (the thick and the thin.) Our job is to love. Period. And for that we don't need to pose. We need a pulse, and a heart that beats for Jesus.
Joni Eareckson Tada once said that the struggles of daily life can threaten to overwhelm, especially when pain and discomfort dominate. But God has the resources - physical, emotional, and spiritual - that we need to “make it,” one day at a time. “We may sometimes need to borrow God’s smile and simply rely on God’s strength to give us the emotional energy we need for that moment.”
Yeah, guys. What does the Bible say? The joy of the Lord is our strength. I’m leaning in that direction today. His grin for my grimace. His wink for my wince. His peace for my pain.
And that’s the end of the lesson. Whether we’re glowing with unmistakable health or crawling through an invisible hell, it’s God’s smile - on us or borrowed by us - that people see.
- Jimmy Peña
FOR DISCUSSION
You can glow as much with health as you can through illness. Where are you in this scenario? Are you borrowing God’s smile allowing His eternal grace to exceed your weak grit? Talk to me.
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Our latest short podcast from “The 2nd Mountain” is up and hopefully you can take a listen. If you have specific topics or questions that you’d like me to address, please send along. You can email us at [email protected]. If it’s cool that I mention your name on the show with your question, let us know.
