King David is the perfect example of God revealing His will to someone when they're quite young. There are so many lessons for a young person from David's life that it's hard to know where to start. So let's do the logical thing and start at the beginning.
Israel had a king named Saul but God rejected him because he wouldn't obey what God wanted him to do. Therefore, Samuel the prophet (remember him? we studied him in the first few lessons of this series) had to find another man to replace Saul. God directed him to go to the family of a man named Jesse where God assured him he would find the next king:
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But 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 16:6-7).
GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART
What you just read is an important lesson. God doesn't consider outward appearances; He doesn't evaluate people as we often do by looking at what they wear, or how they talk, or their good or not-so-good looks. No, God looks beyond all that to a person's heart. That's why you should not make it your goal to look good; your goal should be to be good.
So Jesse presented all his sons to Samuel, but the Lord said none of them were to be the next king. It's interesting that Jesse had to be reminded about his youngest son, David: "Then [Samuel] asked him, 'Do you have any more sons?' Jesse answered, 'There is still the youngest, but he is out taking care of the sheep.' 'Tell him to come here,' Samuel said. 'We won't offer the sacrifice until he comes'" (1 Samuel 16:11). Even your family sometimes can't see what God's will is for your life. When Samuel saw David, however, he saw God's purpose for him even though David's family couldn't:
So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David (1 Samuel 16:12-13).
To everyone's surprise, David was the man, or really the young man, God had chosen for this important position. When Samuel poured oil on David's head, it showed everyone that God had chosen David and because of that, the oil of anointing, which is symbolic of God's presence in someone's life through the Holy Spirit, would be with David to help him fulfill God's will for the rest of his life.
YOUR ANOINTING
Just like David, you also have an anointing, which simply means that God is with you when you do certain things. It may be singing, it may be adding up numbers for a business, or it could be standing in front of a crowd to teach them or make them laugh. And just like God wanted David to know His will for his future, God wants you to know as well. We can also see that God wanted him to know at an early age, for David was probably around 14 or 15 when all this happened. So you can see from this that you're never too young to pray about and know God's purpose for your life. God is more than happy to reveal it to you.
What do you have an anointing to do? By that, I mean what do you do that when you do it, you sense God is with you? You have joy and you see good things happen. Is it athletics? Is it learning or reading? Is it that you make friends easily and enjoy being with them, and them with you? All that may not seem very special or spiritual. You may not understand how God will use it in your future, but for now, it's simply important that you recognize what it is and accept that God made you that way. As you get older, all those "anointings" will make more sense and you'll realize that there has never been anyone quite like you who has walked the face of the earth—and never will be again.
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