Looking Deeper

Seeing Beyond Outward Appearances

My daughter McKenna and I are straight foodies. We love to spend our weekends visiting new restaurants and trying exciting foods from different cultures and countries. When deciding on a place to eat, many times the only criterion is that it must be an establishment that we have never been to before. By using this strategy, McKenna and I have had the delicious pleasure of visiting some of the greatest eateries and enjoying the most varied dishes.

Even though I grew up in the South where collards, cornbread, and sweet tea reign supreme, I’ve never been afraid or hesitant to try new types of food. When I was pregnant with McKenna, each week I would make a culinary visit to a different country. One week I was visiting a Japanese spot eating Miso Soup and the next week I would be in a Jamaican spot devouring some hearty, flavorful oxtails, and yellow rice. These weekly culinary expositions continued to diverse spots well into my pregnancy and sadly to say as my culinary tastebuds expanded so did my tummy and pretty much every other body part of mine.

McKenna’s origin was one of culinary diversity. Poor kid was groomed from utero to love and enjoy foods from around the world. She didn’t have a choice in the matter. Her genetic makeup consisted of food and plenty of it. Although her palate was open to new flavors, there was a very distinct prerequisite that had to be present before McKenna would attempt to try any food. McKenna ate and still eats with her eyes first. To her, presentation is huge, and must be satisfied before she eats anything. She will refuse food that is not visually appealing. She has been that way since she was a very small child, and I can’t imagine her changing now as a young adult.

I am sure there are some dishes that are not visually appetizing, but they are delicious to the tastebuds. I personally have baked pound cakes that looked like a cracked road but tasted so buttery and good. McKenna and people like her will never experience those types of dishes or foods because the foods’ appearances are hindering them from going forth and at least trying them. Imagine passing up the most delicious menu item because it didn’t pass your appearance requirement.

I started thinking about all the missed opportunities we have unknowingly passed up because the outside appearance of a person or situation was not presented in a way that was acceptable or customary to us. 1 Samuel 16:7 says (in my paraphrase) God doesn’t see people how the typical person sees people. We look at a person’s outward appearance, expensive clothes, cars, or perfect body and long lashes. God doesn’t judge by our stature. He looks at our hearts. He searches our hearts because that’s where the real deal is. What eventually comes out of your mouth has already been housed in your heart. (again, my paraphrase) Luke 6:45

This week let’s be intentional in our discernment and the appearances of things. Some situations are shadows and as you already know a shadow is a reflection of something that is real. They are not real, but they are reflections of real things. Situations may arise but remember they too are shadows. In the natural world, shadows will not appear when the environmental conditions are not right for them. If the sun’s rays are not traveling straight toward earth in a certain way, a shadow will not reflect off an object because that is one of the conditions for shadows to form. So too in the spiritual world, the SON must be positioned correctly in your life causing the right environmental conditions that quench all reflections, shadows, and fiery darts of the enemy. Praise Yah!