While sitting in the waiting room the other day at the hospital, I noticed a mural on the back wall that depicted different sites of Savannah. Right in the middle, towards the bottom of one of the scenes, was a shadow of three people shopping.

Then I noticed what looked like the head of a monster-type figure eyeing the three people from behind some bushes. My thought was, “Why would you paint this on a scene celebrating historical sites of Savannah?” When I got close, I realized that the eye of this monster was a screw hole in the wallboard, and without it, the square spot would be much less noticeable.

I still haven’t figured out what this painted square is supposed to be, but it just proved to me that things are not always as they seem.

As part of our nature, we judge by appearance. It’s just like the guy the other day at the stoplight beginning to turn right and needed to look to his left to check on possible upcoming traffic before he made the turn. Just so happened that a lady dressed like a model was crossing the road at that exact time, and someone else, who knew him as a happily married Christian man, was facing him from the other direction. All this person saw was the man turning his head and looking towards this young lady and wondering how happy the man really is in his marriage, while in innocence the man was just trying not to pull out in front of upcoming traffic. When things start to be discussed from one person to another, things get blown out of proportion; before things were finished, the man supposedly was staring, honking and trying to get her phone number.

The good news is that God knows our hearts and intentions. 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

The next time that you think you see something or hear something, don’t jump to conclusions, but give others the benefit of the doubt. Aren’t you glad that the Lord judges you fairly and knows your intentions and your heart?