I Am More Than They Think

Introduction

In order to wrap this weekend up I want to I want to tell you a story. It’s a familiar story taken from and 17. And rather than read all of it, I want to read to you the beginning and the end, and I will fill in the blanks as we go.

Scripture

1 Samuel 16:1 NIV

1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

1 Samuel 17:48–50 NIV

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

1 Samuel 16:

1 Samuel 17:48-50

Prayer

Repeat after me. Father God, open up my heart and my mind so that I may receive your word. Shape me and mold me into a new me. I am your masterpiece. In Jesus Name. Amen.

The title of this message is “I Am More Than They Think.”

Can I have seven volunteers? (Curtis will play Eliab) Just stand in a straight line tallest to shortest. (Instruct the smallest one to go somewhere far.)

At the beginning of chapter 16

At the beginning of chapter 16, God is getting ready to anoint David as King. But there is already a king in place and his name was Saul. But Saul was disobedient so he God tells Samuel, the judge of Israel, to go to a man name a Jesse, for God has chosen one of his sons to be king.

Samuel Thinks It’s Eliab

And so after Samuel and God have a conversation, Samuel goes out to Bethlehem and finds Jesse. And when he gets there, Samuel sees David’s oldest brother Eliab and how tall, and muscular and handsome he is. And Samuel with his human eyes says, “Surely, this must be the Lord’s anointed.” You see Samuel had a certain picture of what God’s anointed looked like.

Sometimes people will disqualify you and look right over you because you don’t look a certain way, speak a certain way, lead a certain way, sing a certain way, play a certain way, or because you are not a certain age.

But I want to tell you this morning “You Are More Than They Think.”

Just because you don’t fit their picture doesn’t make you less anointed or less gifted.

And sometimes we can become so consumed with trying to fit the picture that people think we should be, that we lose sight of the picture that God wants us to be. And one way to insure that you will drift from the purpose that God has destined for your life is to try to live up to the image of people instead of the image of God.

God Corrects Samuel

And so when Samuel thinks its Eliab, God corrects him and says:

That’s not the one. “The Lord doesn’t look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

You see on paper, Eliab looked great. He was a soldier in the army, he was tall, handsome, and the oldest brother which was a big deal back in the day. On paper Eliab looked great as a king, but that doesn’t mean he had a good heart. And God is not into using people who are talented and gifted, but God is after using people who shares His heart.

David didn’t seek out to be king, but God sought David to be king, because even though David wasn’t looking to be king, David had the heart of King. Because of David’s heart, David didn’t have to go looking for purpose, but his purpose found him.

And there are so many people asking God to reveal their purpose, without asking God to shape their heart. And if we would just allow God to shape our heart, we wouldn’t have to go find purpose, but purpose we come find us.

Samuel Goes Through the Other Sons

There are so many people searching to be king without the heart of

So after God rejects Eliab (you can go back to your seat), Samuel goes through the rest of the brothers.

He says God is it this one? Mmhh Mmhh

This one? Nope

This one? Oh no!

This one? Definitely not.

This one? Mmhh Mmhh

This one? Mmhh Mmhh

Samuel has run out of sons, and so he asks Jesse do you have any more sons, and he says yes, there’s the youngest David, but he is tending to the sheep.

Can you imagine how David would have felt if he came in from watching the sheep , saw Samuel the prophet of the Lord and everyone smiling and having a good time, but wasn’t even invited to the party?

Can you imagine how David would have felt if he came in from watching the sheep , saw Samuel the prophet of the Lord and everyone smiling and having a good time, but wasn’t even invited to the party?

You see while everyone else is having a good time, you know what David was doing? Taking care of the sheep.

And sometimes, we can get so caught up in what everyone else is doing around us that we end up losing focus of what God has called us to do.

We scroll up and down our social media pages looking at what everybody else is doing, and we stare so long that we begin to find our purpose off of our social media feeds. “Well maybe I can do that.” And God is saying don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, just focus on the purpose that I have for your life.

You see I have a confession.

There were moments when I didn’t feel like being a minister was enough because of who my best friends are. One of my friends has his PhD in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley and is currently helping Uber develop their self-driving cars. My other friend graduated from Harvard Medical School and is getting ready to finish his residency.

And there were moments when I was so focused on what they were doing, that I had began to lose sight of what God had called me to do. But now I am at a point where I’m not focused on what other people are doing, but I am focused one what God has called me to do.

While all of his family was in the house with the prophet, David was out taking care of God’s sheep.

God Says This Is The One

And so when David comes, God tells Samuel this is the one. This teenager, the youngest of his family, this shepherd boy is the one that will be king.

And so when David comes, God tells Samuel this is the one. This teenager, the youngest of his family, is the one that will be king.

And I’m sure that came as a shock to some people because there weren’t any privileges that came with being the youngest son and being a shepherd was one of the lowest jobs you can have. But despite what people thought, God saw more.

And you need to know that despite what other people think about you or what other people think about you, God sees more.

The Israelites and Goliath

And so as we fast forward, the Israelites, which is God’s army, is in battle with the Philistines. The Israelites are on one hill and the Philistines are on the other, with a valley in between. And out of the camp of the Philistine comes this 9 foot giant named Goliath, with his muscles bulging, his armor on and sword in his hand. And he shouts out, “Are you not servants of Saul and am I not a Philistine? Choose someone among you to fight me. And if they win, we will be your slaves, but if we win, you will be our slaves. But the text says Saul, the current king, and the Israelite army, including David’s oldest brother Eliab, were all terrified.

One day David’s father sends him out to check on his brothers and send them some food and when he gets there he hears Goliath taunting the Israelites. And David begins to ask questions. When Eliab his oldest brother sees him, he begins to talk down to David and says what are you doing here? You are just trying to be nosy. Who did you leave those few sheep with?

But little did Eliab know, was that david was thinking about fighting Goliath because even though everyone else around just saw him as little boy, David said I am more than just a teenager!

I wasn’t invited to the party.

David’s gifts: Plays the harp, is brave and a warrior, speaks well, and a fine-looking man.

David was a harp player and a shepherd, yet God used him in war. Your purpose in life ma not necessarily linked to what you are good at. Moses wanted to give up his purpose because he felt like he wasn’t a good speaker, but God said I’ll put the words in your mouth.

Have you ever got picked last for the team?

During this conference you learned how to Find It

End with Becoming God’s Masterpiece; “Find It, Live It, Love It

People have always struggled with comparison, but with the rise of social media, it is even more.The thing about social media is that everyone is always posting the good stuff and never the bad stuff. The highlights, but never behind the scenes. The achievements, but never the failures. So when you are constantly looking at everyone’s good stuff, you begin to compare your full reality to the image that people have posted. And before you know it, you begin to wonder:• Why isn’t my life like that?• Why am I not as pretty as her?• Why don’t I get to have the new iphone?• Why don’t I have as many friends on instagram like him?• Why doesn’t my family do things like that?But if you are going to become God’s masterpiece, you have to understand that God has uniquely designed you with a set of gifts, personalities and influence. God created you to be you and not somebody else. God has spent time uniquely designing each of you in here to such a degree, that even if you were identical a twin, you wouldn’t even have the same fingerprint. That is how much energy God has spent making you.And there are so many people missing out on their purpose and what God has for their life because they are so busy trying to be someone else.Acceptance & Being LikedNow many people won’t admit they are addicted to being liked. But if you’re not, why do you post something on social media and keep checking your social media post every few seconds to see how many people liked it. I don’t care if you don’t like I like it and most importantly God likes me.All of these things and more have the potential to shape you into things that are less than what God wants you to be.