You’ve seen the warning on the side mirror of  your car, right?  You know the one, “Caution: Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear”. 

Have you ever observed a specific situation and you just knew what was going on?  Have you watched a person’s actions and were confident of their motives and judged them according to what you saw?  And then when the truth came out you realized just how wrong you were?  Perhaps we need a similar “mirror warning” in constant view as we live life.  I think it would read something like this, “Caution:  Objects in life may not be what they appear”. 

I’m not sure anyone is immune to this, or above needing this reminder.  As a matter of fact, these thoughts come from the preparation I am doing for a lesson series through 1 Samuel this fall.  Listen to what took place and the presumption that followed:  “As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.  Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.  Eli thought she was drunk  and said to her, ‘How long will you keep on getting drunk?  Get rid of your wine.'” (1 Samuel 1:12-14)

Ouch!  Unfortunately, Eli has plenty of modern-day companions.  How often have you and I observed what takes place on the surface of lives around us and jumped to conclusions that were just as wrong as Eli’s judgment of Hannah?  The pain, the distress, the activity in another person’s life may not always be what it appears to be.  You know that is true in your life, why is it so hard to remember it is true in others as well? 

How can we avoid the surface judgments?  I don’t think there is an easy to do answer but James gives us great insight to this as he writes in James 1:19, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”   This simple statement is so profound but so very hard to remember to do at all times!  Listening with our eyes and ears and heart through the filter of the Holy Spirit will go a long way in keeping us from making judgments based on outward appearances. 

In God’s great sense of humor and/or irony, over in chapter 16 of 1 Samuel God has to remind Samuel (remember that Samuel was the answer to the prayers that Hannah was praying),  “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”   Our reaction is often to pass judgment based on what we see but God is calling us to look beyond what we can see and really notice what He sees.

I pray that I become a better listener — a godly listener — before I am tempted to jump to conclusions that are far from accurate.  I pray that you and I recognize that our need for grace and understanding in regard to our actions is the same need that others have from us.

May God grant us ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand the work He is doing in our life and in the lives of those around us!