Things Are Not Always as They Seem
After spending the morning in the library doing research for an upcoming talk, it was perfect to be able to take a walk around Nottingham Lake, since there was cloud cover, and temperatures in the mid-80s and I needed some fresh air and relaxation. Kids were playing on the playground, moms were strolling their babies, men were fishing and the lacrosse teams were practicing, which made it a pretty standard day in the park for a June afternoon. Listening to my praise and worship music trying to determine the perfect song to use at the Bible study on Contentment in Our Circumstances, suddenly I spotted something that didn’t look ordinary--in fact it looked a bit scary. A station wagon was parked on the walking path at the top of a steep hill. A man had the back end of the car open which contained a computer, a large metal box and a telephone and he was looking off in the distance toward the bottom of the hill. Now in these days and times, you can imagine what went through my mind—what is he going to bomb?
As I passed, I decided that just in case something happened, I should write down the license tag, so I typed it into my iPhone notes. Continuing to walk, I forgot all about the music and began wondering what someone would want to bomb in our community and although I couldn’t think of a thing, I did consider all of the people who would be affected if something happened—the families, the team members, the visitors. So, I didn’t want to be responsible if something happened; I thought about calling the police, but what if it was nothing?
One more time around the lake and I would find out what was really going on. This time there were two men—one of them on the phone, and the other working with the computer. As I approached the car, I casually said, “Do you know what this looks like?” the one on the computer chucked and said, “Yeah, but don’t call the authorities.” Rather suspicious if you ask me, but as the conversation continued, I was told that they were just checking out the communication system for the July 4th activities to be held next week. It makes perfect sense now, but I do still have the license tag in my phone—just in case.
Things are not always as they seem, so we should be sure to gather all of the information necessary before jumping to conclusions.
Proverbs 18:17 The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.
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