But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’ (1 Samuel 16:7)
He was a short, skinny, scarecrow-looking kind of man. He wore army issue coke bottle glasses and spoke in gentle tones. He was my first supervising Chaplain and I was not impressed. But I soon found out there was more to the man than met the eye. He was a runner, sometimes 20 miles a day. He’d served as the 2nd Ranger Battalion’s Chaplain with great effectiveness. And when we went to the National Training Center I saw the lion in him come out. He was as tough as any other soldier in the Brigade. But what impressed me most was his heart. As a brand new Chaplain, I found myself in very interesting circumstances. Every time I called him on the phone, I would no sooner hang up, and he was right there to coach me through the situation. Looks are deceiving. It’s the heart that counts.
