Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful 
eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” (1 Samuel 16:10-12)
It wasn’t that David’s seven brothers were awful people. In today’s first lectionary reading, we learn the names of only three of them, and God speaks of rejecting just one of them; the others, Samuel tells us, were not chosen for anointing. That role will be filled by the ruddy youngest brother.
Elsewhere, we learn of the ebb and flow on David’s relationship with his brothers. At times, they resented him. At times, they considered him prideful and lazy. At times, they were ready to die for him as members of his army. They each had a God-given role; sometimes, all eight brothers performed that role well; sometimes, they—including David—fell far short.
Not being chosen for the big part is hard for some people, whether it’s to be king, county board chairman, pastor, president of the condo association, a best-selling author, an award-winning pianist, and so on. But the less public parts are just as important, as my writer friend Donna Lee Davis recently wrote in a post titled “Elixir.”
“It’s a wise woman who embraces her small successes,” Donna writes. “I’m learning to be wise.”
None of us is likely to be anointed king or queen. But may we embrace His anointing for that particular role He has for us.
{ 0 comments… add one now }