Things Aren't Always As They Seem Series

Have you ever had to say this to someone in your house? I have to say this to my kids all the time because my kids have this tendency to stand right in front of our tv. I mean, they just stop dead in their tracks, it’s like they’re hypnotized by what’s happening in that moment on the tv and I always have to tell them, I always have to say, you make a better door than a window. How many of you have used that line before? Yeah because they are obstructing my view and that’s what doors do.

The thing that you and I need to remember though when it comes to the doors of this life, and this is the point of today, this is going to be so helpful for you today, is that on the other side of the door, things aren’t always as they seem. They’re not always as they seem.

I want to set this up with a funny thing that happened over at our Hampton Campus a few weeks ago. Some of you know our worship leader at our Hampton Campus, Josh Fowler. If you know him, you love him! Right? I mean he’s amazing, but Josh is the stereotypical musician. How many of you know what I’m talking about when I say stereotypical musician? Yeah! What I mean is that with artists and musicians, there comes a certain sense of “laidbackness” if you will, kind of a take it as it comes mentality. You’re not quite sure if they’re stoned or sober, you’re just not quite sure sometimes with artists. And most of them don’t necessarily prioritize things that the rest of prioritize in our lives. Let’s just say things like schedules and cleanliness and sometimes personal hygiene. I’m just explaining the stereotype ok? Ok! Let me take it one step further, because in the world of Christian artists and musicians, particularly worship leaders like Josh, there’s a stereotypical apparel. They all typically wear skinny or as some call them, girl jeans, the occasional scarf, a beanie on their head, and a particular brand of shoes that look more like bedroom slippers than shoes called Toms.

So with that as the background, one day a couple of weeks ago, Josh was defrosting the refrigerator from the backstage green room in Hampton and he took it outside and he hooked up a water hose and he didn’t want to get his Toms wet so he took off his shoes and sat them to the side and when he was done, he left everything there for it to dry, goes inside, closes the door, only to come back a few minutes to discover that his shoes were gone! Josh’s worship leader Tom shoes were missing! So Josh searches, eventually even getting on his hands and knees looking under cars in the parking lot thinking that perhaps they blew away in the wind, but they are nowhere to be found and then, Josh remembers. We have security cameras. And what you’re about to see is what Josh couldn’t see on the other side of the door, but remember, things aren’t always as they seem! So let’s roll the security camera footage.

Now that’s not the end of the story, because eventually the property manager gets involved and the police get called for this stolen pair of Toms and they confront the man on his lawnmower only to discover that man thought he was just doing his job. He said my job is to pick up trash and when I saw those old shoes out there, I picked them up and threw in the dumpster and sure enough, he took them over to the dumpster where Josh recovered his stolen shoes and he’s wearing them proudly today! How about that! Things aren’t always as they seem!

Hey, I’ve come to tell you today that there are some things happening on the other side of the door in your life that aren’t always as they seem. Your vision is obstructed. You’re not seeing the whole picture, you don’t know the whole story. Your perspective is limited, things aren’t always as they seem in that situation, with that person, in that relationship. They’re not always as they seem and this is true of every situation in life and today I want to show you what your response should be when you realize that things aren’t always as they seem.

I want to go to one of my favorite characters in the Bible today, a character named Joseph, and I want to just pull some scenes from Joseph’s life, just some snapshots of his life and show you today, that things aren’t always as they seem. Let me start with this, and you may want to write this down, capture some notes today. There’s a notes page in the seat pocket in front of you or for those online, there’s a little notes tab you can use, but from Joseph’s life we learn this: Things Aren’t Always As They Seem When Doors Are Open. With open doors. When there’s a door in your life and mine that just seems like it’s wide open, just like wow, God has opened this door and it’s going to be perfect.