I was reading a passage in the Bible the other day about David the shepherd boy. While attending his father’s sheep, a prophet was given orders from the Lord to go and anoint the next king. The prophet Samuel was viewing David’s older brothers, and was probably hoping that God would tell him to anoint one of these fine men as king because of their outward appearance and statue. But God told the prophet to anoint the youngest one, who at that time did not have the outward appearance of being a king.

I am not the brightest person on the subject of sheep tending, but I do believe that when one is attending the sheep, you may be smelly and dirty because you are outside in the elements and with the animals. David would not have been the likely or favorable first choice for a king due to his outward appearance. David did not have time to spruce up or clean himself first.

Consider this: sometimes God has different ways of choosing people to do certain things.  His choice may not be what you consider the most popular choice. I heard someone brilliantly put it like this: maybe God picked David at that specific time, while he was dirty and not looking his best, because David’s time of being revealed to the world or being anointed came sooner because of his assignment. God had need of David at this particular time because of what he needed David to do. He had an assignment to kill Goliath. (I Samuel 16)

When the prophet Samuel went to Jesse’s house to anoint the next king (David), at that time, David was yet in the field tending the sheep. He was dirty and smelly. Some of us may think that we are dirty and smelly right now. You may even think that you are not educated enough, you may think that you do not know all the right people, or that you lack experience, or just maybe you may feel that you are too old, too young, not the right size, height, or appearance.

Whatever you may think or feel, God has already picked you out of the crowd and said, “Yep, that’s the one.’ The one over there that no one has noticed, the one that everyone has said they would never be anything, the one that has been in and out of jail, the one that has been picked on and put down all of their life. You know the one. God is saying, “It is time for me to use you…the very one that everyone overlooked and rejected.”

You are the one God is looking for.

David’s time for anointing and being publicly revealed for his assignment, being the next king, had come sooner and when he was yet not cleaned up because he had a Goliath to kill now.

Think about it: Some of us will have to go now to the Goliaths we must kill now. God has anointed us to kill Goliaths, and he needs us to go now.

Article by Marquetta Smith