Misunderstood

Oh the problems of being misunderstood.  I don’t think there’s a person around that hasn’t felt that way from time to time.  And there’s a hurt attached to it that is unlike any other.  Often it starts because you’re the new person, people don’t know you yet, and there’s some strong personality in the group you’re entering that sizes you up and decides they don’t like you.  They immediately think they know you based on the way you look, what they perceive, what they hear. 

Before you know it, you’re meeting people for the first time and put in the awful position of defending yourself.  Sometimes you don’t even know what you’re defending yourself against.  Every question, every interaction is shaped by the view of the original person who clouded your reputation to begin with.

The people that do this are often afraid… of something that they associate with the new person.  Whether’s it’s a loss of attention, or fear of secrets they’ve kept hidden being released, or even being challenged.  The new person doesn’t have to do anything to provoke it, rather, even the slightest way they say “hello” can be taken wrong.

And isn’t it funny, that we always seem to think “there must be some truth in it if that’s what people say.”  We look for ways that support the negative or incorrect thing we hear, rather than meet the person with a new set of eyes and ears. 

That’s another reason we’re so lucky that God knows our hearts.  He has the benefit of seeing our intentions, so we never get misunderstood by Him.  It’s like that phrase, “Being seen in a new light.”  I always think of God’s love when I hear that.  He loves us even when other people make us out to be something we aren’t.  God knows exactly who we are.