Thursday, November 12, 2015

Not That Different

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 man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

Walking down the gang plank I expected to see something different. Huge palm trees, a volcano, tropical flowers...what I found instead; a street lined with stores, cars, and the same old hustle and bustle of home. The next country we went to was about the same. The only difference was all their road signs were in Spanish.

One would think "I'm in another country, shouldn't it seem different." Instead, I had to keep reminding myself, "I'm not in America."

The people weren't even that different except they really wanted me to spend my money.

"Need a sombrero"

"Mayan calendar only a dollar, cheaper than Walmart."

Here in America we have a smorgasbord of different people-Hispanic, Oriental, African, Egyptian, Greek, Jew...we may well represent the entire world.

When I think about it, I realize we aren't really all that different. That's why I get so upset when the racism card gets played.

Recently my sister-in-law had the racism card thrown in her face. One afternoon as she was driving students home from school and fight between two girls broke out; resulting in her having to call the police to ensure the safety of her and the other students. The following week when she had to get onto these girls again, they made it clear that she was just picking on them because their skins were a different color than hers.

This began to make her job rather difficult, every time she would have to remind any student the rules on the bus they would play the racism card. What I don't understand is why? Shouldn't students be expected to behave no matter what color their skin is?

I sincerely try to look at a person and not look at the color of their skin, I mean God created them just like He created me. There are times though when I look at someone and I just feel unsafe. It has nothing to do with the color of their skin.

My husband and I were having dinner at a local restaurant when this man walked in with a backpack on his back and a hoody over his head. That wouldn't have bothered me, it was the way he acted that wanted me to get out of there as soon as we could. He supposedly just wanted the restaurant to let him get a drink of water which they did, but then he kept circling in front and at one point ended up walking in from the back entrance. This man frightened me and it had nothing to do with his skin color, it was the way he acted. By the way he was white.

There have been other times when I had a certain feeling about someone and I turned out to be right about the way I felt. Not sure why I felt this way, maybe God was sending me a signal, a sense that I needed to watch out for him.

Try as I may, I try not to judge a person by their outward appearance. God has made each and everyone of us. He loves all that He made, in fact He calls all He made good. So unless I get a strange feeling about someone, I will try my best to show God's unconditional love the way He would.


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