Looking Past the Obvious
An Israelite named Kish was
“a mighty man of valor.
He had a son whose name was Saul,
a choice and handsome man,
and there was not a more handsome person than he
among the sons of Israel;
from his shoulders and up he was taller
than any of the people.”
1 Samuel 9:1-2
This is the description of Saul, the young man who would become Israel’s first king. Height, good looks, personality, emotions, and other traits make some people stand out in a crowd. Saul stood out.
A cashier at a grocery store recently stood out to Ray and me. Like Saul, “from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people” around him. It was obvious that people had talked to him about his height about a gazillion times, because on his name tag, he had added these two comments: I’m 6’8″, I play basketball. No, we didn’t ask him how the weather was up there.
This very tall young man could have been studying to be a speech therapist or an archaeologist. Perhaps he was already a licensed contractor or a concert violinist. Maybe he had just returned from a year on the mission field or a trip to Europe with his Mom and Dad. He may have just lost his grandmother or found God after a long search. I don’t know what he needed or wanted to talk about but it was obvious that it wasn’t height or basketball.
Sometimes we find it hard to look past the most obvious things we see in a person so that we can reach down and find out what is really important. This can happen with strangers, but also with our husbands, children, and other members of our families. Everyone has hidden treasures we can discover if we look past the obvious and open our hearts.
A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding draws it out.
Proverbs 20:5