For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

(1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)

A man exiting a grocery store was surprised when an energetic young woman greeted him cheerfully by saying, “Good evening!” Her smile lit up her whole face — at least until he gave her a puzzled, “Do I know you?” expression.

Instantly realizing her mistake, she apologized. “Oh, I’m so sorry! When I first saw you, I thought you were the father of one of my children.” With that, she hurried inside the store, leaving him standing there in stunned silence.

He thought to himself, “What is the world coming to?  A woman who doesn’t even remember what the father of her children looks like!”  His amazement quickly turned to embarrassment as he hoped no one overheard what she said.

It wasn’t until later — after he had replayed the moment a dozen times — that the truth clicked. She wasn’t talking about her own children at home. She was a schoolteacher.

We’ve all done what that young lady did, haven’t we? We wave at someone we think we know, only to realize the stranger is looking at us like we’ve lost our mind. First glances can be deceiving.

And it doesn’t just happen at the grocery store. Sometimes it happens in the heart. I’ve judged people as unfriendly only to discover they were painfully shy. I’ve assumed someone was irritable or rude, only to learn later that they were walking through deep grief or exhausting stress.  I’ve judged some people as “hopeless sinners” only to discover in time a humble heart and a spirit that wants to surrender to God.

The Pharisees were guilty of this. They excelled at sizing people up with a single glance. They never looked past the surface. They never slowed down long enough to learn someone’s story — their wounds, their temptations, their hopes, their hunger for grace. To them, people were categories, not souls.

But God sees differently. Scripture reminds us: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV). God sees what we miss.  He sees the story behind the struggle, the longing behind the sin, the image of himself beneath the rough edges.

Maybe the people around us deserve more than a first glance.

Prayer: Father, help me to take a second look — to see beyond appearances, to look with your eyes, and to treat every person as someone deeply known and loved by you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day