Our Having a Single Eye

Wade E Taylor

The level of the activity of the Lord within our lives is determined by our desire and sincerity toward Him.  The Lord looks deep within us to see if there is any indication of a desire to know and fellowship with Him.  When we become, in any measure, interested in Him - He will notice and respond.

“I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me ... that I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.”  Proverbs 8:17, 21

When a young man becomes infatuated with a particular young lady and she responds to his interest, she soon becomes singularly interested in him.  This is similar to the approbation, or the favor of God resting upon one’s life.  Our desire toward the Lord moves His heart toward us – especially when we express it to Him.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”  Matthew 22:14

It can be said that the Lord chooses a person who has chosen Him.  The Lord knows our heart intention and what is within us, and He responds accordingly.

“He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: from following the ewes great with young He brought him to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So He fed them according to the integrity of His heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of His hands.”  Psalm 78:70-72

Samuel had been sent to the house of Jesse to pick one of his sons to reign in place of Saul.  Jesse had eight sons, of whom seven were present when Samuel arrived.  Outwardly, it seemed to Samuel that the first, Eliab, would be the right choice, but the Lord had something else to say.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  I Samuel 16:7

One by one, the seven sons stood before Samuel and were rejected.  During this time, David, the eighth son, was in a sheepfold, helping in the birthing of a lamb.  When not thus occupied, under the stars of the long nights, David sang of the majesty of his Creator, and he came to be a worshiper of God.  Here, many of the Psalms he later wrote were formed within him.  The Lord had noticed the spiritual hunger and desire that was within David, and would give Samuel no rest until David was called.

“And Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he come here.”  I Samuel 16:11

David was brought directly from the sheepfold to stand before Samuel.  There was nothing in his outward appearance that would seemingly qualify him, but the Lord spoke to Samuel:

“Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.”  I Samuel 16:12b-13a

There was something within the heart of David that had touched the heart of the Lord, and he was singularly set apart from his brethren.  There had been a “faithfulness” in his caring for the sheep.

Now, the quality of faithfulness that had been formed within David was lifted into a higher dimension of responsibility, through intervention.  David was brought into the presence of Saul in the palace because Saul was being troubled by evil spirits.  But, as David played his harp, these spirits were soothed and Saul had rest.  Soon it became apparent to Saul that the anointing and the favor of God rested on David.

Saul became jealous and threw a javelin at David and ordered him killed.  David fled and hid deep within a dark cave while Saul’s army was outside seeking to kill him.  Here, under intense pressure, David began to quietly sing to the Lord, as he had done during the long nights of watching sheep.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.”  Psalm 27:1-3

This dark cave became a “Temple,” the habitation of the Lord’s presence.  There was something within David that enabled his relationship with the Lord to lift him above his circumstances.  The spiritual hunger for the Lord that was within David transcended his local, physical circumstances.

For many of us, when things do not go as we feel they should, we complain, telling the Lord that He should change our circumstances, because we are doing the best we can.  Instead, we are to meet the Lord IN the place where we find ourselves to be, and rise above it with a heart attitude of worship toward Him.  All too often, we whine rather than worship the Lord in our place of pressure.

“To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His Throne.”  Revelation 3:21

A specific challenge to “overcome” is repeated to each of the seven Churches in Revelation with a promise for those who overcome.  For us to become an overcomer, there must be something for us to overcome.  The way we react to our problems has much to do with the “approbation of God” (divine favor) resting upon our lives, and with our being lifted into a new realm of spiritual life and responsibility.

Many wonder why they were brought into a higher realm of spiritual responsibility and divine activity, when there was seemingly nothing in their lives or background to justify the Lord taking an interest in them.  This may have happened simply because the Lord saw the potential that was buried deep within them.

When David was in the sheepfold, the Lord knew (foreknowledge) how he would react while he was hiding in the back of a cave.  All the Lord did was to provide an arrangement in which David had to make a choice.  In this place of intense pressure, he chose the Lord, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after.”

For us also, the Lord gives us plenty of “room” to see what we will do.  In His foreknowledge, He knows, but we must make the decision.  Therefore, He allows us to go through many trying circumstances in order to equip us (enlarge our capacity) for a higher purpose.

Where there is a demonstrated seeking the Lord in our place of pressure, a pathway will be formed that will lead us to God, and result in a greater release into the realms of the Spirit.  Others may not recognize that this higher relationship to the Lord is being formed within us, but we will know.  When we pray, we are told by the Lord to go into our “closet” and shut the door and pray to our Father in secret.  Then our Father, who sees in secret, will reward us openly.

When parents who have a small child go out, the child may say, “Who will keep me?”  This is built into a child.  Jesus said that we cannot enter the Kingdom except we become as a little child.  This child-like trust and dependence is important to our Heavenly Father.

There is a Kingdom principle that has nothing to do with right or wrong.  Rather, it has to do with the attitude behind the act.  This is because the Lord is using the circumstance to produce an inner spiritual quality.

Thus, the Word tells us that “all things work together for good.”  Things do not work; rather God works even terrible things together to produce His purpose - the image of His Son within us.  When I understand and accept this, I have an alignment, or a set of spirit within my being that will bring me into the place of His higher calling and purpose.  Then, nothing will be able to turn me away from this path.

Now, the circumstance that we face can only enhance our relationship with the Lord and teach us His ways and Kingdom principles, and our capacity for spirituals (our ability to function in the realm of the spirit) will also be enlarged.

Our knowing that David qualified for the throne of Israel while he was in the sheepfolds of the wilderness - which was confirmed and established while he was hiding in the back of a cave, should encourage us to maintain a right attitude while we also are in the sheepfolds of His preparation, being tested in the back of a “cave.”

Only then can we say with David:

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises to the Lord.”  Psalm 27:4-6