THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

I was walking down the street in New York City a few years ago, and came face to face with this man. I stood in amazement, watching his gaze, and wondered how this man could look SO much like Albert Einstein. Having never met Mr. Einstein, how did I really know what he looked like? After all, the photos that are published could have been doctored, but most likely, this is what he must have looked like. I took me a minute or so, but I quickly realized that the image in front of me was not a breathing person, but a wax figure; we were standing in front of The Wax Museum. After standing there for even longer, I realized that he was not real, but the features and coloration are mind boggling. On another occasion, I went to the Hall of Presidents at Disney World, and to witness each president standing there speaking and moving on the stage was also a wonder to behold, but they are, in actuality, extremely "high tech" robots.
There are many deceptions in this life, some meant for good, and most meant to satisfy some person or persons selfish desires or schemes. In the Bible, Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, and put lamb's blood on his coat, showing it to their father Jacob, convincing him that his youngest son had been slaughtered by some beast. I have met many types of people in this life, and there are some who don't trust anyone at all, while there are others who will fall for anything, the epitome of naivety. So who can we trust? Bonds of friendship are created between brother and sister, husband and wife, friend to friend, and most of the time, those bonds are trustworthy, but when trust is broken between people, it makes it harder to trust someone in the next relationship. Some feel that they can't even trust God, for through their disappointments or even terrible losses, they find that even God must have some hidden agenda. Well God DOES have an agenda, and He doesn't always share it with us in this life, and sometimes He DOES reveal His plan to us before we leave this world.
Since God created everything, and ultimately controls everything He sees all things from a perspective that we cannot. The one thing that is consistent with God is that He loves us, and He knows us better than we know ourselves(imagine that!). I compare it to when I was 16 years old...time for my first car...most of the kids that I went to high school with were getting GTO's, Corvettes, or some similar "muscle car". My father told me that he wanted to help me get a car, and asked what kind I wanted...well, I began to name some of the fast cars that I wanted, and he quickly stopped me, and explained that he knew what would happen if I had a car like that. He was right...I would have burned the tires off the thing the first week. I ended up buying 1959 Hillman Minx(an old British car)http://www.charm.net/~pdbragg/whatsahillman/newcar.html that we bought from my brother for $35.00; it was wrecked, and we had to drag it out of a ditch. I stripped and sanded, and rubbed and worked all summer, and my Dad worked right along with me, and really did more work than I did; he did all of the extensive body work, and even almost cut his thumb off straightening the frame. The car lasted me several years, and it made me appreciate having a car.
Our Heavenly Father is much like our earthly father, except He knows everything, even what's best for us. When things are not what they seem, He can steer us in the right direction, but how will we know? The only way to know is to be CLOSE to Him. Ask yourself how you can do that. Pray, ask Him into your life...if you have already done that, ask Him to bring you closer to Him. He has not moved or gone anywhere; WE are the ones who move away. Move back in ...closer, closer to God. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean NOT unto your own understanding; In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5,6 written by the wisest man ever. Solomon.