I was reading the story of Cinderella to my granddaughter the other day and I reached the part where the Prince was trying the glass slipper on the step mother and step sisters. The shoe did not fit. The Prince asked the step mother “are there any other girls in this household?”. I was reminded of the story of David when Samuel went to the home of Jesse to find the king God chose to replace Saul.

Samuel went to the home of Jesse and asked him to bring all his sons so he see which one God had chosen. Jesse presented his sons to Samuel, one by one. He had not called David, his youngest in the fields where he tended sheep.

One by one the sons of Jesse are paraded in front of Samuel. Each has height and strength and features making him pleasant to look upon and an authority men would follow. Samuel rejected each, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I San 16:7)

“Do you have any other sons?” Jesse tells him about David who is small of stature and young. Jesse sends for David and God tells Samuel this is the one to be anointed. Man would not look twice at David, a young shepherd boy who spent his time in the fields caring for the family flock, but God saw David’s heart and knew this was a man who sought to please the Lord. Like Cinderella, David was chosen to leave behind a simple life to move into a place of royalty.

The next time you feel too small or unimportant to serve God, remember David and how he was called from the fields where he led a flock of sheep to an empire where he led the people of God.