#22 The Lord Looketh on the Heart

1 Sam. 9-11; 13; 15-17
*Hand out a half sheet of paper and pencil to each person. I’m going to have my class divide their paper into 3rds. On the 1st third I will have them write what they think of themselves, and ask that they be nice to themselves. Then on the 2nd third they write what they’ve heard others tell them about themselves. Then I will read the 1st half of 1 Sam. 16:7 where the Lord is telling Samuel how we and others see ourselves and each other.
*Do you think that is true? Now we will read the last half of the verse where we read how the Lord sees us. Now on the 3rd section pretend its Christ writing Even if you write that you have a desire to be good, or that you strive to be obedient etc.

So now what? What does the Lord do with the potential that’s just sitting there? He nurtures that potential just a little at a time through small experiences, new ideas, and thoughts, piece by piece. He gives us opportunities to either accept or decline, then if we accept He can mold us through promptings of the spirit just like he does with David. Let’s look at David’s heart:
1 Sam. 16:12 he’s ruddy (healthy), beautiful countenance, goodly to look to
16:13 Spirit of the Lord was with Daniel
16:21 & 17:17 he’s obedient to His Father and His king. He takes opportunities that come and trusts that they’ll be the right experience.
16:23 he plays the harp
17:26 he has faith stronger than the older men! He talks smack too that says that something, that maybe he’s a teenager.
17:28 Still a normal kid & must’ve wanted to see the battle or participate or his brother wouldn’t have said that.
17:33-37 Courageous, feisty and has faith in the Lord
17:39-40 Goes with what he knows, doesn’t take the armor because he chooses to use what he’s always used-the Lord’s power.
17:45-46 “Come to thee in name of the Lord”-willing to fight for God and with His name to prove to whole earth that the Lord is real.
17:48 Courage-he ran toward Goliath, not stood there waiting; he’s aggressive-doesn’t hang back.
17:49 It took one shot to take Goliath down, He’s efficient, has great aim, he hit his target, or his goal on his 1st try!
Now as I was pondering on this info. About David and as I saw how his life’s experiences worked I thought about my own life and how the Lord is taking my raw materials or my desires or potential and molding me? I know that the Lord can mold us through jobs, kids, callings etc. He has with me in many areas, but I just thought about the callings I’ve had-there haven’t been but a handful, but the rate at which I learned and the things I’ve learned have been amazing to me as I look back. I want to illustrate a bit of my experience because I want you to see how you can look through your own life experiences and see how the Lord has worked with your potential.
I started my 1st calling in the nursery and continually learned and proved to myself and the Lord that I could do this calling, I could be reliable, I could learn to love the kids, I could learn how to teach little people who love and accept you no matter what. Since then I have had many other callings that have stretched me and forced me to go into places that I really didn’t think I was capable of going to. I ended up here for one thing and have been here for 4 years, I just realized I am 2 lessons from where I started. I have grown more here than in any other calling; but no matter what, we all know that to keep growing we all have to keep getting new callings, and having new opportunities; who knows when that will happen, but whatever and whenever that happens we know that whoever will take this calling will grow and learn tons, and where I go will be where I need to be to keep growing. The Lord will continue shaping our lives through our potential just as he did for David. Our job is as David’s was, to notice the miracles, embrace new experiences and life changing events with faith and confidence, trusting the Lord in everything He did. I bare testimony that if we let the Lord shape the potential He sees in our hearts we will be strong warriors that will continue to fight our Goliath’s throughout our entire lives, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

*I have a really short lesson because I am ending early because we have people in our ward who have a fit about having food in the Relief Society Room and so we are adjourning early to go to the gym and have the cinnamon rolls that I promised my class this week for losing the game last week.