Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at Lakeview Christian's Preschool Chapel. As I was preparing my lesson, I was trying to think of a story that would be applicable to kids 5 and under. I was reminded that the life of David shows us that its not about you, its how you let God use you, no matter what age you are. I ended up telling the preschoolers the story of David's anointing. We talked about how God put Saul in charge of Israel as the king but he decided that he didn't need to listen to God. And we all know that we should always listen to and obey God. And then I told the kids how Samuel was sent to find the new king that God had chosen.
If you haven't read the story in a while take a quick moment to read it in 1 Samuel 16:1-13. I don't want to spoil it for you, so i'll wait.
Ready? Ok good, now that we are all caught up I will continue. As you know Samuel went to the house of Jesse to look at his sons because God had chosen one of them. The first one, Eliab, comes along, and Samuel thinks this has to be the one. The first child always gets all the good stuff right? And he must be the biggest and strongest of his brothers since he is the oldest. In Samuel's eyes, Eliab is the perfect choice. But God says, NO. So Jesse brings forward his second son, Abinadab, to pass before Samuel. I am gonna guess that this one is still pretty big and strong, he is after all the second born. But God says, NO. Next is Shammah, but the same answer comes from God, NO. The Bible doesn't even bother to tell us the rest of the sons names only that the same happens with 7 of Jesse's sons. Each time God tells Samuel that "man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." Hmm well thats a cryptic message when looking for a king. So it seems that Samuel has run out of sons of Jesse. So he asks, "Have you any more sons?" And as you well know Jesse had one more son. The littlest one, the one that no one bothered to get from the fields because there was no way he could be considered to be the future king. David was the least likely choice by even his own father. But Samuel had David come in from the field where he had been tending sheep. And as David stood before Samuel, probably smelling of dirt and sheep, God spoke to Samuel and said, "this is the one." God saw the heart of David, He saw that David was going to follow Him with his whole heart. And that was the type of king God wanted for Israel. Someone to follow Him and lead the people to do the same. I am not trying to say that David's brothers weren't going to be spiritual leaders, but it is possible that they, like Saul, would have depended on their own strength and knowledge instead of God.
David's anointing was just the first instance in his life of God choosing someone little to do something big. If you keep reading, a couple of chapters later we see David facing off against a giant named Goliath. Once again David is being underestimated because of his size. David knew that though he may be small, his God is big and can defeat any foe.
So how did I tie this in to the lives of preschoolers? No I don't expect a prophet from God to be coming to their houses to anoint them the next king of Israel. But I do expect there to be times in their lives, even now where they can choose to obey God. Times when they may be discounted because they are small, but they can show the truth that God can use them to do something big because HE is big inside them.
Thankful to be Growing at The Grove!
Miss Megan
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