The Peacock is an Armadillo

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.

 On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

“You are judging by appearances…”

II Corinthians 10:3-5, 7a

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Outward appearances can be deceiving.

Remember the old adage – “Don’t judge a book by its cover”?

We often do not see past what the other person wants to present.

We only see the peacock.

We don’t see the armadillo.

They are both the same person.

The outward appearance may be all flash and glamour – like the peacock – but inwardly there is a hard shell – like an armadillo – that discourages anyone from getting too close.

Maybe they have been hurt in their past so the peacock facade is very useful in hiding the armadillo shell.

“Admire me from a distance”; they seem to say, because up close and personal there is only ‘access denied’!

I pray God gives us those spiritual eyes to see past the peacock presentation people offer and instead minister to the armadillo inside.

May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to see beyond the pretensions.

May we not evaluate or minister solely according to the outward appearances of a man.

May we minister in the strength, the anointing and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father:

Make our ministry to others effective because of your Spirit working in us!

In Jesus Name.

Amen