Man’s perception of the way things are is not always right. We look at a situation and believe we have all the answers, convinced we know the truth.

“As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, ‘How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.’”
1 Samuel 1:12–14

Eli looked with his natural eyes, not his spiritual ones. He saw what was happening outwardly and assumed he understood Hannah’s heart. How often do we do the same? We look at someone through human eyes and quietly judge them as broken beyond repair, unworthy of our time or attention.

Yet Hannah was not drunk — she was deeply troubled in soul. When Eli finally listened, discernment replaced assumption, and compassion followed. She received comfort, and the weight she carried began to lift. Scripture tells us that after this encounter, she went away, ate, and her face was no longer sad.

God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.

How many times has God sent someone across our path — not to inconvenience us, but to invite us into compassion? Someone who needed encouragement, a gentle word, or simply to be seen. And how often have we missed it because we looked with our eyes instead of God’s?

“God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.”
1 Corinthians 1:28

We do not truly know another person’s heart — only God does. Things are not always as they seem. God has not forgotten you, nor me, nor Hannah. He is not limited by time, and His purposes unfold beyond what we can immediately see.

So let us learn to look beyond the visible, to listen for the voice of God, and to see people as He sees them. You may just miss a blessing if you choose to look only with your eyes.