Things Unseen

I heard an interesting news report as I was getting dressed.
At first I thought I heard it wrong.
Since it is a news radio station, the stories are repeated every twenty minutes.
I made it a point to listen with full attention to see if I heard the story correctly.

I did.
Companies that sell underwear are able to forecast the strength of the economy.

I was confused.
The two things seemed unrelated.
One has nothing to do with the other.
Apparently I was wrong.

The major manufacturers of underwear gave the results of their findings.
People do not buy underwear when the economy is weak.
The sales reports based on solely on numbers determine the strength of the economy
If sales are down the economy is weak; if sales are up the economy is strong.

In a weak economy, the people tend to buy only the things that are seen.
They will do without the unseen things until they have more discretionary income.
Their conclusion is based on their research.
The result was odd enough and intriguing enough to report as news.

When we lived in our previous house, my neighbor had her own interior design business.
She basically told me the same things many years ago.
Not about the sales of underwear, but about redecorating a house.
Her conclusion agreed with the news report.

When the economy was strong, her business was booming.
When the economy was weak, her business was much slower.
I never really thought about it until she mentioned it.
It’s all about discretionary income, she explained.

Discretionary income is the income that is left for spending, saving, or investing.
It is the income left over after you pay your taxes and buy your necessities.
Those necessities usually consist of food, shelter, and clothing.
Discretionary income is spent on vacations and non-essential things.

Interior decorating is, according to my neighbor, a discretionary income.
But underwear?
Seems to me, that is a necessary thing.
Perhaps, I’m missing the point.

Apparently the study was about the purchase of new underwear.
People tend to keep things a bit longer when there is not extra money to buy them new.
It made me think of the one thing your mother always told you to pack: underwear.
The one thing your mother always wanted to make sure was presentable: underwear.

It makes me smile to think about that mother’s warning.
Those universal warnings to make sure that your un-presentable things are presentable.
What is unseen to everyone else is definitely seen by your mother when you are young.
Mothers care about every detail: the ones you see and the ones you don’t see.

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate.” Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 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 16:1-7)

God does not look at the obvious things.
God does not look at the outer package to determine if we measure up.
God takes the way the world views things and turns it on its head.
God cares about the unseen.

Our mother was the only person who knew the condition of our underwear.
God is the only One who knows the condition of our heart.
What is unseen to everyone else is seen to Him.
Our heart, that we learn to hide so well, is laid bare and vulnerable before the Lord.

Much like the underwear sales study, the condition of our heart says so much about us.
David was described as a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)
What others could not possibly see, God saw.
David’s unseen heart was precious to God; he knew God, talked to God, walked with God.

The state of our heart is not based on the strength of the economy.
The state of our heart is based on the strength of our relationship with God.
That relationship is not a discretionary one.
That relationship is a necessary one.

That relationship with God the Father can only exist through His Son, Jesus.
Jesus whose own heart was pierced.
Jesus who paid the necessary price to satisfy the wrath of God.
The punishment that should have fallen on us, fell on Jesus instead.

Our relationship with God the Father is strong or weak based solely on our belief in Jesus.
We must come to Jesus in faith.
We must believe that there is nothing we can do on our own to save ourselves.
We need a Savior who puts His Spirit, unseen, in our hearts as a deposit.

A deposit of what is to come.
Unseen to us now.
Known and seen only by God.
The state of our heart will one day be revealed, laid bare and vulnerable before God.

Have you considered the state of your heart?