Not what it appears......

Appearances can be deceiving . . .

This was brought home to me recently when I was speaking with our local county extension agent. The nearby university posts agricultural agents in the towns throughout the state; they advise and teach the citizens on a variety of subjects: growing trees for profit, gardening, canning foods safely, gardening, raising livestock, and more.

I had checked on my "table" grape vines that morning and I was concerned. My muscadines and scuppernongs have always been fairly maintenance-free. Table grapes, however, have a reputation for being the prima donnas of the vineyard. And for good reason! They are much more picky about their growing conditions and the soil. They also fall prey to a good many pests and diseases. How those perfect table grapes grow so pretty and end up in the grocery stores, I will never know. (Grin)

But I digress.
As you can see in the picture above, some of the leaves were sporting ugly spots! Pink and red in color, they actually drew the leaf up and made it appear shriveled.
Was it a fungus?
Was it a bug of some kind?
The spots didn't look good. They looked harmful, in fact.
Did I need to spray or sprinkle some type of chemical on the affected leaves?
How was I going to get rid of those spots?
The county agent looked at the photos I had emailed to her, and then called me on the phone. She said crisply, "You've got grape tube gallmakers."
I gulped.
This sounded terrible.
"How, how do I get rid of those?" I stammered.
"Oh, hon, don't worry about it. You can spray for them, but you know, you really don't want to do that."
"WHAT??"
"Those are beneficial bugs. They get rid of some of the other ones that will do awful things to your grape vines. You can afford to lose a few leaves and let those beneficial bugs do their job!"

You could have knocked me over with a feather, as my grandma used to say.

Sure got me to thinking . . .
So often in our lives, appearances can be deceiving. People can fool us with smooth words and deception, that's true.
But what about in our spiritual lives?
Are we going through some tough times? Are we dealing with some problems that look really ugly? (Raising hand) I've been there. I'm there right now.
Are we concerned about these problems? What can we do to get rid of them? Can't we possibly solve them? We really need to. Let's hurry up and try to resolve the issues.....
Wait a minute.
Are we doing the right thing?
Are we looking at the problems the "right" way? The godly way?
It's just possible that those problems are there for a reason.
That adversity may be there for a purpose.
What? Some of us have talked about this before, but if you are a new reader here, you may be thinking, "But God wants good for me! Why would He bring difficulties and problems and hard times into my life? That isn't even fair!"

Anybody besides me remember fire drills? In school? Have you ever held a fire drill at your home, or talked about what to do if the worst happens? What do you do? What do you grab and take with you? Your Bible? Your photo albums? Your great-great-grandma's crystal decanter?
Experts tell us that the most important thing in case of fire is to just get out. After all, our lives are the most important things here - not our possessions.

I think that is one reason God allows adversity in our lives: it's a bit like a fire drill to reveal what our true values are. It's like a beneficial bug that works for good in our spiritual lives. Adversity holds us hostage for the moment. It may demand that we give up our possessions, our health, our dignity, or even our lives. How we react (and what we cling to) reveals our true values! When it's all over, and we come out on the other side, we can look back and think..... did we say in the midst of the trial "I will cling to my Savior; I will not deny Him; I know He will save me, so I am going to endure and obey."
Whatever we are not willing to let go of, whatever we are not willing to sacrifice is our greatest treasure. And wherever our treasure is, our heart will be there, also. I'm tromping on my own toes, too, but the Spirit wants us to know that adversity strips away the pretense. It takes away any delusions we have and shows us what we treasure the most; it shows us where our heart really is.

give thanks in all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 5:20)

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:9)

Adversity.
It's not what it appears.
It's not something that we need to get rid of. That we can resolve in our own strength (that's a whole 'nother lesson!).
Like a fire drill, it gives us a chance to see ourselves as we really are and make corrections if needed. And like a beneficial bug, it works for good and helps us take care of some awful things in our spiritual lives . . . it helps us see self-righteousness and weed it out. It helps us to see pride and show it the door. It helps us to identify things in our lives that need to go!

Our Father doesn't waste adversity. He uses it for our own good - to polish us into the likeness of Christ, to get our attention, to show us where our hearts really are.
Father, help us to pay attention to what your Spirit is trying to teach us!