The Junk Drawer
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1Samuel 16:7
Every house has a junk drawer, right? We’ve all got that one space that holds miscellaneous items. It’s where we toss things when we don’t know where else to toss them. When guests are on the way over and we need to do a quick decluttering of the counters, the junk drawer is our saving grace. It’s always there when we need to keep up appearances. When we’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed over the condition of our desk, our kitchen, our home, it’s easy to shove everything into our junk drawer and immediately feel relief. We don’t care how it looks on the inside of the drawer; so long as it closes, we’re happy.
Our hearts are often like our junk drawer. We smash a lot of things in there, slam it closed, then slap on a smile and hope no one looks inside. We’re desperate to appear polished and put together. We need to convince others our marriage, our family, our home, our finances, our health, are in order. We feel compelled to do this because this is the same measuring stick we use to assess others. We look at the outward appearance. We size others up by their clothes, their hair, their landscaping, their car, their mopped floors and their gleaming granite countertops free of clutter. We look at their shiny, smooth curls and their magazine-worthy outfit and without even meaning to, we see it as a reflection of who they are inside. But all we’re really looking at is a closed drawer.
The prophet Samuel, God’s faithful messenger, was favored by the Lord and people (1Samuel 2:26), but even he was deceived by what he saw on the outside. When God determined to remove King Saul from the throne and replace him with someone more worthy, He sent Samuel to Bethlehem, where he met a man named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons, one of whom God would anoint as the new king. Jesse first presented his eldest son, Eliab, to Samuel. Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!” (1Samuel 16:6). And why wouldn’t he? As a firstborn son from the tribe of Judah, he seemed like the natural choice. The Bible says Eliab was tall and it also implies he was good looking. By all accounts, this appeared to be a guy people would follow.
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1Samuel 16:7). Our eyes fix on aesthetics. God looks beyond the surface. He hones in on the heart. God is saying here that we never can tell about a person if we look only on the outside. (Seems the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” may have originated in the Old Testament.) Eliab may have looked the part, but God makes it clear the condition of his heart disqualified him from kingship. Do you see? The image we project to the world is not what qualifies us to be a child of God. It is not what makes us valuable, worthy, loved or seen by Him.
We may fool our friends, family and neighbors by clearing off the clutter. We may even fool ourselves. We think if we present a pretty enough picture, we can distract from the junk. But God cannot be deceived by appearances. God glides right past our polished performances and heads straight for the junk drawer. We cringe to think about it. The shame is real. The conviction is potent. We brace ourselves for judgement. But this is when we need to remember there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). There is nothing in our drawer that will shock Him. Without flinching, He will sift and sort through everything we’ve been desperate to hide. The judgement only He is worthy of handing out, the judgement we certainly deserve, is withheld, and it is replaced with grace.
Today, let’s clean out the drawer. Let’s peel off our plastered smiles and dump the contents onto our once clean countertops. Let’s lay it all bare before a forgiving God. Let’s release the shame we’ve accumulated and let Him bring it all to light what we’ve hidden in darkness (1 Corinthians 4:5). Let’s stop caring about the judgement of others and remember that we will ALL stand before God and the motives of our heart will be exposed. There will be no filters, no makeup, no junk drawer to hide behind… but there will also be no condemnation for those that are in Jesus Christ.
Study & Reflection: Sit down with a pen and paper and write out the items you’ve shoved deep into the junk drawer of y0ur heart. What is it about these things that makes you want to hide them from others, from yourself, or from God? What feelings do they invoke (shame, fear, conviction, grief)? Confess them before our gracious and merciful God.
Prayer: Father, forgive us for passing judgement on others based on outward appearances. Forgive us for our lack of authenticity before others. We focus too much on our appearances, on being accepted by the world. Help us remember our value is not in the perception of others, but it comes from You alone. Release us from shame and fear so that we can be honest and vulnerable about what we tuck away in the dark. May we spend far more time working on improving the condition of our hearts than on the appearance of our lives. Amen.