Perceptions

Perceptions

My husband, Michael, is a landscape manager for the beautiful grounds of a retirement village, which includes a hostel and a nursing home. This past Christmas, like every other Christmas, the residents have showered my husband with Christmas cards and an assortment of gifts from chocolates to an Australian tradition of shortbread biscuits. This year, however, he received one gift that we had never received before. He received a gift voucher from a shop called Dan Murphey’s. I had never shopped in Dan Murphey’s before because this is what Aussie’s call a *grog shop*. They sell alcohol. Michael and I are both committed Christians and we don’t drink alcohol. Now here we were with what appeared to be a useless gift voucher. Several days later Michael came home with the good news that a work mate had told him that Dan Murphey’s has a small selection of non alcoholic wines. I googled the shop and discovered the information was indeed correct. So while my husband was at work, my friend and I went off to use the gift card. We parked the car at the shopping complex and started to look for where Dan Murphey’s was located. We finally found the shop and together we went in. We stood there totally lost. There before us was aisle after aisle of every assortment of alcoholic beverage available. We were able to ask for assistance and we were shown a very small section at the very back of the shop where they had  a few  non alcoholic wines. These would be perfect on our Christmas table, I thought, and with much anticipation my friend and I chose 6 bottles of assorted reds and whites, and placing them in a shopping trolly, we proceeded to the check out. The lady at the check out was so very kind and helpful and packed them immediately into a box for us to transport them easily to the car. She had grabbed just any box beside her and there she placed our bottles of non alcoholic wine for safe keeping. My friend and I exited the *grog shop* pushing a trolley with the word “Dan Murphey’s on it, with six bottles of non alcoholic wine now encased in a box that clearly read Chardonnay Wine and the Vineyard it came from. We stood there in an apparent dilemma. We laughed and worried all at once. From all outside appearances we had just purchased a carton of alcohol. We had to push the trolley right through the main shopping centre, down escalators to the car park far away. Everyone we passed would assume we had alcoholic wine. This was probably not the time to bump into anyone we knew or sort of knew. Nor was it a time to be spotted at a distance by anyone we knew or sort of knew. With a laugh and a hope of anonymity we made it safely to the car.

The whole escapade reminded me of this verse 1 Sam 16:7 For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” How easy it is to misjudge a situation and to receive the wrong perceptions just by what we see or even hear about a person. This took my mind one step further to another question. What do I think about God? Do I misjudge Him? Have I looked on the outward appearance of a situation and thought I understood God from it but found I was wrong? The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 “God is love”. Do I only ever see goodness and love or do I misjudge Him? 

Ps 100:5 “ For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Ex 34:6 "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”