Whenever you’re staying in a house you’re not familiar with there is a little bit of a learning curve. Things don’t always work the same as they do at home. Right now we’re away staying at a family member’s house. One of my daughters came up shivering after taking a shower and chattered, “The shower water was freezing cold!” Later on I heard that the second daughter, who also took a cold shower, thought the first one had used up all the hot water! No one likes a shower with only the cold option, but I didn’t think much about it until it was my turn to take a shower. 

I went to turn on the shower. The water valve was all the way to the right with the water. I turned the valve all the way to the left and the water came all the way on. After a minute or so the water was still freezing cold. Standard installation procedure is to install the hot water line to the left and cold water to the right. Even the plate behind the valve had the “H” on the left and the “C” on the right, but things are not always what they seem. I turned the valve all the way to the right, just before the point where the water flow would cut off, and sure enough steaming hot water came rushing out. I was pleased that this was the case, for my sake, but I also did get a giggle out of what the girls went though! Fortunately for me, I had the simple advantage of having trekked on this planet a couple more decades than they have. I’ve encountered the displaced water valve dilemma before. There are many other quandaries in every area of life that remind us that things are not always what they seem. 

One of my reflections from this simple incident is that if things don’t work the way they seem like they should, then try something else. God did a marvelous job ordering the cosmos. There are universal laws that we rightly attend to and rely on. However, we live in a fallen world managed by fallen people who make fallen systems. Worst of all we see the world through fallen eyes. Our interpretations can be skewed about reality, motives, causes, etc. Things are always changing and we’re always changing. You know those optical illusions that instantly look like one thing, but after you look a little longer it becomes something completely different? Life can be like that sometimes. We get stuck in routines and traditions, that most of the time can be good, but don’t close yourself off from thinking something new, learning something new, or tweaking your life in some way to accomplish what you’re longing for. In other words, if the water in your life is cold, turn the valve to the right, try something unconventional and see if the water gets hot. Of course, this suggestion of thinking outside the box still suggests that we think and act within the boundaries God has set for us in His Word.  

Another thought that comes to my mind is: don’t be a judgmental person. Jesus wisely instructed us to, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). Things are not always what they seem. We watched the new Garfield movie last night (spoiler alert!). The overall plot of the story was that Garfield was abandoned in a dark alley by his father when he was just a kitty. Later on they were reunited but Garfield was angry and bitter. Every time his dad was about to explain what really happened Garfield would interrupt him with bitter objections. His dad would have just enough time to say something to the effect of, “It’s not what you think.” Later on Garfield learned the truth. On that dark night Garfield’s dad saw him get noticed by a loving man who took him in. His dad knew that Garfield would live a better life with his newly adopted parent than he would living on the street. His dad would go and watch him every day from a tree outside his new house and watch him live a blessed life. Garfield had it all wrong.

There is real evil in the world and it should never be simply overlooked, excused or enabled. However, most of the time, the people that we interact with on a daily basis are just people trying to do what is right but just have struggles like everyone. If we really took the time to ask questions and to truly see what it was like to walk in their shoes, we would find nuances and situations unique to that individual that would make you more sympathetic to their decision making. Other times it may look like people are living an ignoble life, but when you look into it you find out that they are doing very noble things. Some of the sweetest, most godly people in the world don’t look like what you would think they should look like. Just be slow in your evaluation of other people, and of the things they do. 

Is there any situation in your life today that seems positioned the right way, but you’re not seeing the right result? Look a little closer, think a little deeper about it. It may be that something needs to be adjusted. No need to take a cold shower just because an installer one day did a sloppy job! 🙂