Things Are Not Always What They Seem

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night, one I had found on Pinterest.  The picture was beautiful.  It looked tasty, and all the ingredients sounded yummy.  It wasn't.  What seemed like a good idea most definitely was not!  My official taste tester (the hubby) has ruled against this one.  "Pineapple Crock Pot Chicken" will not be appearing on our menu again.

We have a rather large pyracantha bush at the end of our front porch.  I have written about this bush before.

Last winter that bush was covered in snow.

All that snow, combined with extended periods of sub-zero temperatures, caused us to wonder if that shrub would make it through to spring.  Once all the snow had melted and the spring thaw had come, I thought the bush was dead.  In fact, when the landscape crew was here to see what needed to be done to get our yard ready for spring, I told them to cut it down because it was dead.  I wish I had taken a picture that day.  But why would I have done that?  I thought it was dead.  Things were not what they seemed.

That was on a Wednesday.  When the crew came to do the work on Saturday, just a few days later, there were green leaves on that bush.  And about a week later it looked like this.

Every day that plant became a little greener. And there are several more plants around here that I had given up on because they took too long to come out of their winter hibernation.  In each case, I was wrong.  I was too impatient.  Every one of those plants I had given up on now has green leaves!  Actually, a couple of them are beginning to show their fall colors now, but that's a story for another day.

That pyracantha that appeared to be dead is in fact now a very healthy green bush.  Things are not always what they seem.  I was convinced that the bush was dead.  I was wrong.  Which makes me wonder how many other things I have been wrong about.  Hmmmm.......

I gave up too soon on this plant.  And the message from that experience to my frustrated, impatient, waiting heart is not to give up on other things too soon.  Things are not always that they seem.

Just because a plant appears to be dead doesn't mean that it is.

Just because it seems that prayers haven't been answered doesn't mean that they won't be.

The person with the newest, fanciest clothes and the shiniest new car may be the one who is deepest in debt.  Things are not always what they seem.

Just because a person has a smile on her face doesn't mean there isn't some deep hurt within. 

Just because something is on the internet or on television does not mean it is true.

Things are not always what they seem.  Appearances can be deceiving.  That's the lesson I was reminded of this morning as I looked out the window and saw this pyracantha.

The plant appeared dead.  But it wasn't.

Sometimes prayers seem unanswered.  But they aren't.

Winston Churchill was right.

"Never, never, never, give up."

That's as true with our prayers as it was with the pyracantha.  Things are not always what they seem.  Sometimes things seem pretty hopeless.  Even so, don't give up.  God is never early.  Never late.  Always right on time.

"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.  For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened."  (Matthew 7:7-8 AMP)