“Shout out to the Veterans who worked their way up from being a Private!”

Working your way through the ranks is not easy and promotion is not guaranteed. Not only do you have to continue your training, there has to be an opening or empty slot. Many times you have to move to another unit to fill an empty slot there. There could be a soldier in that unit who wanted it! When you switch units, you are not always welcomed with open arms!

When God built his first army, he chose to use already established units, with established leaders. Each unit was a family, and each leader was the head of his father’s house.

Numbers 1:4, “With you there will be a man of every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house.” Modern English Version

God promotes based on the heart of a man. He told Samuel to go to Jesse the Bethlehemite because He had chosen the next king from one of his sons. When Samuel saw Jesse’s first-born son, he said, “Surely this is the one.”

But God replied, “Don’t look at his appearance or height because I rejected him. For the Lord sees differently than a man sees. For the Lord looks on the heart.” (See 1 Samuel 16:1-13.)

God chose David, the youngest! He was the son of a lesser wife. His father did not even allow him to attend the feast. He was shepherding the flock – a job normally reserved for servants or slaves.

Gideon is another example of how God sees a man. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him, he said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

Gideon pointed out that his clan was the weakest in Manasseh and he was the youngest in his father’s house. Manasseh was Joseph’s first-born son, but God chose Ephraim, his second-born over him, (see Genesis 48:1-20). The angel told Gideon not to worry because the Lord would be with him, (see Judges 6:11-24).

“It’s not about the one chosen; it’s about the One with him.”

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