Big On the Inside

Last Tuesday I spent my evening at one of our local jails. During this time I had a chance to share the scriptures with a dozen or so guys. I shared the story of two kings, Saul and David, from 1st Samuel. I focused in on how Saul seemed, to everyone (prophet Samuel included), to be God's anointed man for the job ... he was tall and good looking ... a NBA center of a man if there ever was one.

I told them how Saul's story begins to unravel right from the beginning as we see Saul hiding amongst the baggage. In the ensuing years we see how Saul was small on the inside. Though he had several encounters with God's Spirit he could not seem to get comfortable with living from the Spirit and gave into his darkside ... he was controlled by his fears, jealousies and insecurities.

In the middle of Saul's story David appears and is contrasted to Saul. He was just a young man when Samuel anointed him king over Israel. Samuel himself seemed ready to make another 'big man' king when God interrupted him:

When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:6-7)

What follows in this story is the story of a second man who, unlike Saul, is a man who is big on the inside. I told the guys about David - the story of a man after God's own heart ... a man who wrestles with bears and lions ... a man of courage ... big on the inside.

When I finished sharing several guys prayed with us and gave their hearts to Jesus. One of these guys, Ed, talked to me afterwards and told me that I got his attention when I spoke about being big on the inside - Ed is a little guy. I listened to Ed's heartbreaking story and told him that David's heart became big in the small things in life ... it took time for his heart to get ready to fight Goliath. I prayed with him then and have prayed for Ed a few times since then asking God to help Ed grow on the inside. Ed has a lot of challenges ahead of him. Please remember Ed when you pray.