What is under your hood?
You know, it would be foolish to buy a car simply because it looks good, goes fast and the up-front price is right.
Wisdom says to check under the hood and underneath the body.
You want to know if the car is going to be solid and reliable or if its going to be a sometimes-rolling hole in the ground into which you throw money.
To be successful in life and in faith, we have to pay attention to those things beneath the surface in every facet of our lives.
For without a solid condition of that which is unseen, the attractive externals will eventually become unattractive testimonies to failure.
I’m glad that God doesn’t focus on the externals when it comes to leading believers in their choices for close friendships, for marriage, for church leadership roles or even for secular partnerships.
God always looks first on the heart, I Samuel 16:7 says, and so should we.
In a roundabout way, I was reminded of this truth this morning while reading the One-Year Bible.
The passage from Nehemiah 3-5 was actually quite liberating.
I was reminded that God’s choice as to where I am to be used in His Kingdom is based on the character of my heart and my measure of surrender to His will.
God’s appointed places of service for me will NOT be according to the typical criteria of the world such as how many influential people I know or how tall I am or how charming my words or how impressive a resume that I might possess.
You see, God knows that the real power for securing success in Kingdom service is not latent within the man or woman, but within the freedom God’s Spirit has to work through the man or woman.
If I had to choose between an always-open, two-lane road and an eight-lane superhighway constantly blocked by egotists waxing their broken-down sports cars, the choice would be simple.
You get the point.
As I read this morning of the ongoing, outstanding leadership of Nehemiah in the face of incredible difficulty, I was not only inspired and instructed, but I was also reminded that many of God’s perfect choices would not have been made by man.
You see, if the people of Jerusalem and those returning from exile had conducted typical job interviews for the role ultimately filled by Nehemiah, he likely wouldn’t have been the one picked.
Remember, Nehemiah was the Babylonian king’s personal beverage director.
He wasn’t a general or a governor or a high priest.
He wasn’t even a thriving businessman.
He poured the king’s wine into a cup, tasted it to make sure it wasn’t poisoned and then handed it to him.
Not a job anything like what would be required in Jerusalem.
No engineering, no psychological counseling, not political science, no military strategy. None of that stuff.
He was a cupbearer.
But in God’s sight, he was also the right person for the nation-changing task that nobody else could do.
Thank God that He saw the heart of Nehemiah and arranged circumstances to allow this great restoration of Jerusalem and later Israel to come about.
Thank God that He earlier saw the heart of David when others saw only the runt of Jesse’s litter.
God knew that His power flowed through surrendered hearts who trusted Him for success rather than their looks, connections, charm, muscles or whatever.
King Saul was the poster child for this truth.
Dear friend, don’t become smitten by the worldly trap of judging primarily by externals rather than praying for wisdom to discern the more important internals.
When it comes to selecting friends, spouses, church leaders or even business partners, pray for greater insights on the inner person rather than trusting too fully the externals.
You’ll increase the ratio of joy compared to aggravation.
And you’ll increase the ratio of ministry compared to misery.
Oh, and while you’re at it, work to become more like Christ. That way, when He looks under the hood of your life, He’ll see more of Himself there and He’ll pour more of His power through your life into the lives of others.
As always, I love you
Martin
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