Let’s Look in the Heart!

By Janet Stobie

During the holidays, we talked with our grandson about job-hunting. I remember seeking my first position as an ordained minister. Usually, the National United Church’s “settlement committee” carefully chose a position for us. I came to the “settlement committee” with special needs. In an attempt to save my dying marriage, I asked to be left close to my husband’s work. The committee tried. There was a place, but that particular congregation definitely didn’t want a woman. They weren’t supposed to be able to choose, but the committee in its wisdom wanted this position to work. “Would you be willing to be interviewed by them?” the committee asked me. “If they meet with you, speak with you, they’ll realize what a tremendous gift you will be for them. They’ll have a chance to experience your heart.

Today, job applications are submitted on line. There is no human contact between applicant and recruiter. How can an employer experience your commitment, your enthusiasm, your heart through a computer screen?

It isn’t only in job interviews that we can miss the best candidate by focusing on outward appearances or factual data. We meet someone new and often make a snap judgment. Maybe it’s just the way a person dresses, smells, or speaks. Maybe we’ve already too many friends, or we’re just too preoccupied with our own agenda to consider this new person. Looking in the heart requires time and commitment.

When God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse in search of a new king for Israel among Jessie’s sons, “the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) God chose Jessie’s youngest son, merely a shepherd boy named David. David, became the greatest of Israel’s kings.

Let’s not overlook all the diamonds, all the goodness, in the people we meet. Take the time to look past that first impression. Search for God’s presence in their hearts.