ONLY THE SPOON THAT'S IN THE POT

It was a saying my mother used to repeat to me all the time.  She said it in Italian, like she'd heard her mother say it to her.  When my mother spoke to me in Italian, I could understand it as fluently as if she was speaking English.... but... I could not speak Italian back to her.. Go figure... Anyway... I don't know how to type the Italian words, but the translation of this saying was something like:

"Only the spoon that's in the pot really knows all the ingredients in the soup."  She wasn't talking cooking, or soup, or food.  It was her way of reminding me to remind myself that no one really ever knows what's going on in someone's life, or marriage, or family, or spirit, or heart... except for the person that is IN the situation.  She wanted me to understand that people misjudge other people.  People THINK they know the whole story about something, but they rarely do.  So she encouraged me to brush it off if someone thought something about me that wasn't truth.  And she encouraged me to remember how it feels to be misjudged.  You never know the whole story.  Accept that. Move on. And "mind your own business" was her lesson to me.

It doesn't matter how someone's life appears, you can't judge a life by it's cover.  You know what I mean, don't you.  You know about the "cover" we often put on to hide what we are really going through from anyone who glances at us?

So then, have mercy on everyone. 

Because everyone has had heartbreak.
Everyone has had disappointment.
Everyone has been deeply discouraged at some point in the past.
Everyone has had moments of fear for the future and guilt from the past.

Don't assume that the reason some people are filled with JOY is because they have NEVER shed a tear. Maybe the reason some people seem to have had a cushy life isn't about their lack of trouble but their abundance of faith.

Some people just choose to believe what Jesus said.  And that's that. 

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart. I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD."  - Jesus, (John 16:33)