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 16:7, NASB

Garbage In, Garbage Out

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Luke 6:45, NASB

The Florida sun was beginning to get the best of me-as were the large crowds and the sea of selfie sticks we were dodging everywhere we turned. It was the last day of our week-long summer vacation at a popular theme park in the Sunshine State, and I had reached my quota for crowds, overpriced food, and humidity.

While waiting in line for one of the major headline attractions, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and politely asked if she could cut ahead in line and join her family in front of us. “Of course!” I replied as I moved my kids to the side to let her through…and the 13 others that were with her. Thirteen people! I counted them!

I was mad. Furious. Could have spit nails, mad! My husband tried to talk me off the ledge, but that made it worse because then I was mad at him too!

I stewed for a while and made some snarky comments, and my husband asked, “Why does it matter? It is going to delay our plans by about 30 seconds?” True. He had a point. I hate it when that happens.

That’s when I came back to reality and realized that my angry (and ridiculous) response was completely out of proportion to the “slight” that had just occurred. I have come to realize that a disproportionate response of anger to a minor situation is always a red flag. It tells me I need to check my heart and see what is really going on.

The problem was easy to see. My normal time with God each morning had been replaced with simply scrolling through devotions on my phone before falling into bed exhausted each night that week. My prayers had become superficial and not much more than an item to check off my list.

The reality is, I can’t pour out what I’m not filled with. That week I had more than my fill of the world instead of God, and that’s what came spilling out the first chance it got. That left me looking, feeling, and acting like the world: selfish, angry, and somewhat hostile. My attitude screamed, it’s all about me!

If I want others to see Jesus in me, it’s crucial I meet with Him myself.

It’s foolish to believe we can survive physically by eating only once a week or even once a day. The same is true for our spiritual nourishment. We can’t be nourished spiritually if we aren’t feeding ourselves a steady diet of God’s word and the things of God.

Seeking Him,

Traci