Do We Have An Awesome God Or What?

When they came, he saw Eliab and thought, "Certainly, here in the LORD'S presence is his anointed king." But the LORD told Samuel, "Don't look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see. Humans look at outward appearances, but the LORD looks into the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab and brought him to Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." Then Jesse had Shammah come to Samuel. "The LORD has not chosen this one either," Samuel said. So Jesse brought seven more of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these. Are these all the sons you have?" "There's still the youngest one," Jesse answered. "He's tending the sheep." Samuel told Jesse, "Send someone to get him. We won't continue until he gets here." So Jesse sent for him. He had a healthy complexion, attractive eyes, and a handsome appearance. The LORD said, "Go ahead, anoint him. He is the one." [1 Samuel 16:6-12]

It amazes me how God works. And once again, a passage from 1 Samuel figures in today's post.

I felt called to be at my church at various times during this weekend's men's Walk to Emmaus mostly in hopes that God would reveal to me the assistant head cook I've been praying for. And I think I know now how the prophet Samuel felt when he was called to annoint amongst Jesse's sons a new king [David] for Israel; there were quite a few names rattling around in my brain through the course of the weekend - no fewer than those that were brought before Samuel. These were good men to consider, yet something didn't seem quite right.

This afternoon I headed down to the church to see if the team needed any help with the tear-down and cleanup. It was pretty much done by the time I got there. But then T showed up and I helped him break down the sound equipment and set it up in the Sanctuary for the closing service. He had an extra microphone and invited me to sing with him during the service (and as God would have it, we ended up being the only two singing tonight). As I was singing and looking over the crowd, someone whose name hadn't even crossed my mind (although his brother's did!) appeared way towards the back. I had met and served with this man for the first time a few years ago when he was head cook on a Chrysalis weekend - the two of us had clicked instantly. And now I felt that the Lord was putting it in my heart that he would be the perfect choice for my assistant - this is someone I worked with closely and knew that we worked well together, and I knew he loved working in the kitchen. "He's the one, isn't he?" I asked the Lord. I prayed about it more and knew I needed only to ask him.

At the conclusion of the service I approached R and his wife (I can't remember her name!) and after the hugs of greeting I mentioned that I was head cook for the October walk. She said of course I would need an assistant. And then she blew me away when she mentioned that she had been praying during the service that R would get to be a head cook again! I posed it formally to R and he pretty much just needed the dates (I gave him a rough timeline) and he said of course he would do it. We exchanged business cards and the annointing was completed.

So just like that I have an assistant head cook. Like David, he wasn't the first choice - but he was the obvious choice. I just needed to wait and trust that God would provide. He did. And two prayers were answered. Do we have an Awesome God or what?