The Young Man Who Broke Things

“People look at the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart.” — from 1 Samuel 16

Long ago, more than three hundred years before you were born, there lived a man we now call Brother Lawrence. Before anyone called him “Brother,” he was a young servant.

He worked as a footman for an important man, a treasurer named Monsieur Fieubert. A footman’s job was to wait on his master, carry things, fetch things and keep everything neat and tidy.

But there was a problem. Lawrence was big, and he was clumsy. He said so himself. He called himself “a great awkward fellow who broke everything.” Picture him trying to carry a tray of fine cups and bumping into a door. Crash! Picture him reaching for a dish and knocking over a jug. Splash!

Most people would not have guessed that this clumsy young man would one day be remembered all over the world. They would not have guessed that people would still be reading about him hundreds of years later. But God was not looking at his clumsy hands. God was looking at his heart.

And something was about to happen to that heart.

Do you ever feel clumsy, or not very good at things? Maybe you spill your drink, or drop the ball, or get the answer wrong. That doesn’t stop God from loving you or using you. He looks at your heart.

Dear God, thank you that you don’t love me because I’m clever or careful, but because I’m yours. Please look after my heart. Amen.