"True Appearance Or Not?"

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment". John 7:24

As many of you know our ministry runs a thrift store.  Yesterday at church, a sweet young friend came up to me and told me that she and her husband had passed by the shop on a day I was closed and thought someone had vandalized it.  She was so upset that anyone would do that.  The reason she thought that was because the windows had red paint "scribbled" all over them.  She had her husband turn around so that could take a closer look and clean the paint off of the windows.  Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the paint was also on the inside.  They concluded that I must have done it.  (I would like to say, in cause she and her husband are reading this, she will never know how blessed and touched I was by her concern-- thank you!)

Let me now tell you the story behind the windows.  I have a beautiful eight year old granddaughter  who has been volunteering for me on Fridays during the summer.  Well, she found a tube of red glass paint.  So, she decided to do a little "art work" and write some messages and draw on the windows.  Me being the "wonderful" Nana I am--- I let her.  I haven't entirely cleaned all the windows yet.

A lot of time we will "jump to conclusions" based on appearance.  We will act according to what we see.  Many times what our eyes are telling us is the truth, but sometimes it isn't.  After looking at the windows I could easily see how they drew that conclusion.  (I probably would have too if I had not known the truth.)

I said all that to say this:  Our judgments should not be after appearance.  They should not be solely based on our feelings or opinions.  They should not be based on everyone else's opinions as well.  We should seek the Lord and ask for His understanding in the situation.  God corrected Samuel the prophet for this very thing when he went to anoint a new king of Israel.  He was looking at the statue of the man.  He was looking at the brothers' appearances.  He was following Jessie's opinion, who didn't even think David was good enough to be king so he left him tending sheep. 

You have heard it said, "Things are not always as they appear"-- this is often true.  Things are not always as others say they are.  Things are not always as we perceive them to be.  So, again, seek the Lord.  Get discernment from Him.  Ask Him to help you see clearly the situation.  Don't just take everyone else's word for it, or make a judgment based solely on the way things look.  It might not be true. 

Have a great day.  Base your judgments on truth, not on appearance only. 

 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from 
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