Things are Not Always as They Seem

We need to be sure of the truth, then we can think on it.

“I can’t believe this!? Drugs??”

My mama-heart was freaking out. I thought I had “good” kids. I thought we were past the “rebellious stage” with my older teens.

I held in my hand a small plastic baggie half full of some sort of…leaves. I wasn’t quite sure what it was. Marijuana? Hash? I don’t even know the street names for substances one might roll up and smoke, nor what new products are on the market. I found the small parcel while cleaning behind the dryer, which isn’t something I do very often. I started thinking maybe I was meant to dust that area that very day for the sole purpose of intercepting a child’s destructive road toward full-on substance abuse.

I snapped a photo of the opiate and texted it to a pal I consider the most street-smart person I know. He educated me on some of the possibilities of what it could be. I began to panic internally.

Cautiously, I approached my oldest son. He denied knowing anything about it. “Rrrright…” I worried quietly. I decided to ask my daughter if it was hers. Or maybe she was “holding it for a friend”.

She looked at me with a sort of weird grimace. Then she burst into hysterical laughter. “Mom!” she cried between guffaws. “It’s catnip!”

Sure enough, I tested it on our cats and they went into a gleeful frenzy.

Sometimes we put our own story to something without having all the information and work ourselves into a tizzy. Anyone? No? Just me?

Things are not always as they seem - at first. For example, on social media, we may be led to believe a person is a certain way, but their real life isn’t actually as pretty or picture perfect.

I once heard a story of a woman who watched two men from the gas company walking around the neighborhood checking meters. When they were finishing up at the last house, the older man said to the younger, “I’ll race you back to the truck.” And off they sprinted. Well, the dear lady who had been keeping her eye on them, dashed out of her home and ran too, straight toward their truck with all her might.

When they all arrived at the vehicle some distance from the closest house, and were recovering their breath, one of the workers asked the woman, “Is everything alright, ma’am?” She answered, “When you see two men from the gas company running as fast as they can, you better run too!”

Philippians 4:8 says “...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”

Truth matters. The correct thoughts matter.

I used to go to church with a woman I called Karen. It turns out her REAL name was Barbara. I called her the wrong name for a FULL YEAR. She never corrected me. She let me think what I wanted to think. It is so easy for us to be truly convinced of one thing and it turns out to be something else entirely.

It’s like viewing the world through a stained glass window. Your vision is clouded by a colorful display. Once the glass is removed, your perspective changes. Everything in our lives is filtered by our upbringing, experiences, opinions, and fears.

You might have the fear of screwing up your kids when, in reality, you are the exact right mom for your particular children. God could have given them to someone else but he didn’t; He gave them to you. You have the fear of not measuring up when, in reality, you are the exact person God created you to be, and you’re the you He wanted. Your height, your eye color, your personality…it’s the right fit for you and there’s a purpose for your life.

We know this stuff, but we still tend to think what we want to think.

When circumstances come upon us that seem hopeless, we make it mean something about ourselves or about the people we love or even about God. We fabricate stories to try to figure out why life is hard, like, maybe God doesn’t really care, or maybe my husband is cheating on me, or my kids are on drugs. But tough circumstances don’t necessarily mean anything. We MAKE it mean something. However, things are not always as they seem. It seemed hopeless when Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den. It seemed hopeless when rain fell for 40 days while Noah and his family floated alone. It seemed hopeless when Christ was crucified.

We are not at our best when we’re angry or afraid or operating on what circumstances seem like. There are always the unknown purposes of God. He has a plan in mind for each of us. When we find ourselves in situations that seem hopeless, we pray for Him to remove us from it or to remove the “thorn” from us. And He may do that. But what He promises He will do is be with us and give us His grace. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “...My grace is sufficient…” meaning it’s enough for you today.

How do we know what to think and what is true? For starters, nothing brings out the truth like adversity. Having no choice but to call on the name of Jesus will bring our thoughts into laser focus.

Digging into God’s Word and finding out for ourselves what is truth is of utmost importance. Colossians talks about this “mystery” that is now “…disclosed to the Lord’s people.” The answers are there. He’s waiting for us to discover His truth.