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Good morning. Over the next few weeks I’m going to be involved in appointing a number of school staff, so I have several piles of applications from hopeful candidates sitting on my desk at the moment.

Filling in an application is a ritual that most of us go through in our working lives, giving details of our experience and qualifications, setting out our stall to show we’re just the right person for a particular job.  It’s always a difficult call, wanting to show ourselves in a good light, while not over-egging the pudding and making ourselves sound a good deal better than we really are.  There are too many stories of people coming unstuck when the claims made in an application form simply don’t stack up when they’re tested by the searching questions of an interview.

On the other hand being the one doing the interviewing can have its challenges too.  Finding just the right person for a job is very satisfying, especially when you see them start to flourish in their new role.  But I’m also concerned to encourage the applicant who didn’t quite make it on that occasion…but who has the potential to be just the right one next time;

Christian faith speaks of a God who is all seeing and all knowing and, presumably, able to see beyond the carefully constructed façade of our professional persona, or even our social media profile.  But I’m comforted and drawn to the idea of a God who knows our strengths and not just our shortcomings; and finds satisfaction in the things that we do well, rather than simply waiting for us to get it wrong.

And if God’s able to consider every aspect of our lives, just like a really thorough interview, through 360 degrees, knowing something about the things that make us tick, then he’ll also know where to encourage us on the way.

Today Lord, look beyond our façade, so that you can see us and know us as we really are…and rejoice in all the things that are good and worthy and excellent.  Amen.