Redemption’s Reach

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

Murderers (Moses), liars (Jacob), the youngest (David), the sexually impure (me), etc. God’s called don’t always look the way we think they will.
      In this verse, God is talking to Samuel. He had sent the judge and prophet to Bethlehem so that he could anoint the new king God was going to appoint over Israel. All Samuel knew was that this new king was the son of Jesse. As he observed Jesse’s sons, he thought the first was surely the one God had chosen based off his appearance; however, neither he nor the 6 others were who God had in mind. Finally, the prophet had Jesse send for his youngest son David. When he arrived, God told Samuel to anoint him.
      David would never have been the choice for a king by anyone else’s standards. He wasn’t from a rich family. He was a shepherd. Plus, he was young-in fact, the youngest. Blessings usually went to the eldest son. The boy would have easily been overlooked by anyone else.
      If we had to pick someone to represent us, we would go for the best. We look for the best looking and the best qualified. We judge based off all these external factors, but God does the opposite. God picks the lowly and the meek. He isn’t looking at the social ladder and He doesn’t want your resume. God chooses people based off their heart and character. We may not always see it yet, but God has eternal sight. He knows the potential for our growth. He doesn’t pick the fully formed or perfected (according to our standards). He forms those He chooses.
      When God gets a hold of your life, He will do amazing things through you for His name and glory despite your past. I (as well as many in the Bible and outside it) am a testament of this. I led a sexually impure life. I wasn’t a virgin when I got saved. I didn’t follow God’s standards. In fact, I used to be addicted to porn. That is so far from what I would expect one of God’s called to look like. I never would have nominated myself to represent Him. Fortunately, God saw something more than I did.
      God has taken a hold of my past and is using it to help me bring hope to those with similar or worse stories than mine. The theme is the same, God can and will redeem you. In fact, He loves it. He springs life out of what everyone else would pronounce dead or hopeless. He brings us out and proudly proclaims, “This is the one I have chosen.”
      The people in the crowd might be skeptical in the beginning, but as God starts to draw out our inner beauty and strength, and begins molding and refining us, they begin to see what He saw the whole time.
      The youth pastor at my church knows about my past. I have been saved just three years now, so there were so many things I didn’t understand. I would be in and out of his office constantly trying to learn more about what living out my faith looked like. Recently, he told me that I am one of the women he considers the most pure. I cried. This is how far God can take you from your past. I am living proof that He can redeem you fully. It might take some time to get rid of the remnant, but the living water He uses to clean up your inner appearance will flow out so that it purifies and polishes your outward appearance.
      You don’t have to be who you used to be. You’re not trapped. He will give you a way out. He will reach as far as He needs to to redeem you. He will claim you and you won’t ever have to be the same. You won’t even have to be ashamed because He will use your past to help others who are going through what you did. That is the most beautiful thing about our redemption. It doesn’t just change our life; it has the power to change others’ lives as well.