Looks are Deceptive!

I was enjoying a walk in our neighbourhood, when a snake crossed my path. Well, it looked like a snake. But ... was it? I moved closer. Oops! It was simply the long peel off a eucalyptus tree, pretending to be a snake! I took a picture, knowing I'd blog about it. So here it is and what do you think? Does it look like a snake to you?

The truth is ... that things are often not what they seem. In fact, that's the secret of a good novel. The reader will exult in an unexpected twist and a surprise ending. It's also is the theme of most of our lives, isn't it? Things are not what they seem! When a tough season arrives, my higgledy piggledy emotions take over. They tell me that the circumstances will never change and I begin to get anxious. But when I look back on my past, I see clearly, that like the turning of a calendar page, every tough season has one day come to an end, giving birth to new beginnings.

And meanwhile I've learnt some helpful life lessons along the way.

Once, during a perplexing season, as I looked out through my kitchen window, God grabbed my attention. Grey clouds filled the skies. Lots of them. Everywhere. All around. Except ... for a minute segment of small pink clouds that pranced above the hills. They hinted of joys to come.

God whispered to me in the recesses of my heart. "See those grey clouds, Nushi?".

"Yes Papa! I do. There are too many of them!"

"Turn your gaze below them. You will find beauty, truth and hope. Your future is the same. It might look dreary and dark to you right now, but better days are coming. Hang in there, dear child.'

Hope stirred in my heart, the flutter of a dove's wings before it flew eagerly into a beautiful blue sky. "Thank you Papa. Thank you so very much!" I whispered.

"You are welcome, dear one". God's smile warmed my heart.

A short while later, my son called me. 'There's a rainbow, Ammi!" he said. My eyes widened. We both get excited by rainbows and Asela's the chief rainbow spotter in our family. I ran to our kitchen window and there it was, a colour splashed ribbon, smiling in its glory across the eastern skies. I stood transfixed for a minute, breathing deeply, then rushed to get my phone. Sadly, by the time I reached the back door, the rainbow had all but disappeared. I took a few pictures.

Later, when I downloaded them onto my computer, all I saw was a grey sky. Until I squinted. And then I could see a faint outline of the rainbow. Things are not what they seem. If a friend had looked at my pictures and asked what it was and I told her, she would have laughed. 'Are you hallucinating?' she'd have asked. But I knew what I'd seen. It was true. I had seen a rainbow, even if proof of that vision was almost non-existent. 

God often calls me to walk by faith and not by sight. I don't always find that easy, do you? When circumstances loom large and ugly like the curtain rising on a disturbing movie I'd rather not watch, how do I react? If I am anxious and worried, that doesn't say much of the faith I profess. But when I rest in Jesus, trusting in the promises He's given me, believing what His Word proclaims - why, that gives substance to my faith walk like nothing else does.

Could I learn to rest in Him always, through both bad times and good?

Are you burdened with the cares of life today? Hang in there dear friend. Like a hyperactive toddler at play, slinging mud around his yard, the enemy of our souls is busy throwing chaos into our world. Let me assure you though, that things are not what they seem. God is in control. Every day. Every hour. Every moment. He sees you and sees the heavy load you carry. He promises to stitch the good, the bad and the ugly you encounter into a striking cross-stitch creation that will resound to His glory! You can count on it. So let's trust Him today. And enjoy the journey.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18