But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
I’m one of those people who can’t stand not to have their bed made in the morning. It’s usually the very first thing I do after getting up. This is one of those things like when a mom is cold, her child must wear a jacket. Even if my boys don’t see the purpose of making their beds because they’ll just be messing it up again, they still need to make them!
My hubby was helping me one day and decided to do something kind and make the bed. Now, this is when I’m supposed to be appreciative and keep my mouth shut. He made the bed…period. I’m telling you that I tried to keep my lips zipped, but I knew what he’d done.
He didn’t start with the sheets and work his way to the top. Nope, he just made it appear like the bed was ready for the day. How did I know? I recognized the signs from my boys’ beds. They think that if they make it look good on the outside, nobody will ever know the mess that’s going on inside. What my hubby and boys didn’t realize was that the mess tends to spill out when you’re not paying attention.
So, there I’m standing looking at the sheet and blanket trailing out the side and down across the floor A LOT. I believe my hubby caught me with my head tilted to one side looking at the “stuffing” bursting out because it couldn’t be contained. He may have started with the famous, “Whaaat?” But as he looked from my face to the bed clothes that were doing their best to escape our room, he kind of chuckled.
It was at that moment that I knew where my boys get it from. I looked at that hubby of mine and said, “I guarantee your youngest’s looks the same way underneath.” He followed me into that bedroom and when I revealed the masterpiece hidden beneath the comforter, he was in the process of a full out belly laugh.
Why do I worry so much about what’s under the covers? It isn’t about what people will think, it’s about what I must deal with at the end of the day. I don’t want to be crawling into a bed where I’m having a battle just to get covered up. I certainly don’t want to be uncomfortable because the fitted sheet is all bunched up under where I’m to sleep.
I admit the bed issue isn’t a big deal, but what’s underneath the top layer can be. When I was a teenager, we’d gotten a phone call in the winter that the neighbor had his snowmobile out. He told us to come up if we wanted to go on the tube he tied to the back of it. My friend and I didn’t have anything else happening, so we made our way up the hill.
We had lots of fun being drug around the field by the snowmobile. At one point, I fell off. Not a big deal since there was snow to cushion the fall…or so I thought. It wasn’t what was on the top, it was underneath that mattered. Everyone wanted to know if I was alright. I didn’t understand because people fall into the snow when playing all the time. What was the big deal?
Remember how I said we were in a field? Well, the field had been planted with corn which had been harvested, but the ground hadn’t been turned over. You probably know where I’m going with this. Underneath that fluffy white snow was chopped off corn stocks. The big deal was the blood dripping down my face! The problem was that my face was frozen, and I didn’t feel a thing.
Sometimes the danger isn’t what can be seen, it’s what’s underneath the surface. Do we ever try to be all put together, but are a hot mess on the inside? There’s danger in the cover-up.
If we’re always trying to make everything perfect on the outside but ignoring the heart, our hearts will get harder and harder. We’ll even delude ourselves and won’t feel what is happening because we’re too frozen on the inside. That’s when the mess will eventually spill out from under its cover. This is when people will see what we can’t feel.
We may be able to fool people for a while, but God sees what’s inside. We need to get our hidden mess straightened out with His help so that we don’t lose the ability to feel. Even when things look good on the outside, if the inside is a disaster, we can be everything from uncomfortable to dangerous.
I challenge you to not just worry about outside appearances, but take care of the heart today!
