A few years ago, I was working out at the gym when I noticed a guy mirroring my routine.

Everywhere I went, he seemed to end up minutes after me.

Now, this isn’t that strange of an occurrence.  The gym was a bit small and the equipment options were limited, so if you’re working out a similar muscle group, you’re bound to end up in similar locations needing similar equipment. 

But that wasn’t the main issue.  The problem wasn’t his presence – the problem was his fragrance. 

He smelled like, well, forgive me for this imagery, but he smelled like poop.  Everywhere I went, this guy followed and everywhere this guy went, the smell came too.

Eventually I had enough and decided if I had to choose between that smell or my weekly workout plan, I’d rather throw off the rest of my routine rather than continue dealing with this odor.  Frustrated but desperate, I shifted plans and went to another part of the gym.  Thankfully, he didn’t follow.

But there was a problem.

The guy didn’t follow me, but the smell certainly did.

Now, I’m not the sharpest crayon in the box, but when I realized he was no longer around, but the smell still was, I began to consider a terrible possibility:

What if it’s me? 

What if I’m the source of the smell?

What if I’m the center of this putrid odor?

Sure enough, I looked under my shoe and there was the source of my disgust.  Somewhere between parking my car and walking into the gym, I had stepped in a big pile of…well…you don’t need any more details. 

I learned two important lessons that day.

First, clean up after your pets.  Seriously – don’t be that person.

Secondly and far more importantly, if everywhere you go stinks, it might just be you. 

If everywhere you go stinks

If everywhere you go is wrong

If everyone you’re around is always messing up

If everything you see fails to meet your standards

If everything and everyone everywhere is negative, the problem might not be out there with them, but with you. 

If everywhere you go stinks, chances are, it’s you. 

This isn’t meant to be a dig or an insult, an accusation or condemnation.  All I know is that when I’m spiritually unhealthy, when my heart isn’t in a good place, it’s amazing how efficiently I can find fault in everyone and everything else. 

If everywhere, everyone, and everything around you is experienced in the negative, you may need to check your focus. 

In 2 Kings 6, the Prophet Elisha has been causing all sorts of problems for the King of Aram.  The King had been trying to make military moves against the armies of Israel, but God kept giving Elisha insider information regarding their next steps and plans.  Furious, the king realizes if his plans are ever going to work, he’s first got to eliminate Elisha (how he thinks he's going to sneak up on the guy who knows all his other plans is beyond me…).  After locating the prophet’s whereabouts, the king sends an army to surround the city and capture Elisha. 

Elisha’s servant sees the army and panics. “We’re dead!  We’re toast!  We’re doomed!” (clearly my translation of 2 Kings 6:15).  

This is the Prophet Elisha’s response: “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” ~ 2 Kings 6:16-17 (NIV)

When Elisha’s servant is understandably overwhelmed with fear and unnerved by the impending doom staging themselves around their residence, Elisha doesn’t pray for his servant's courage, boldness, or new strength – not that any of those things would be bad or wrong.

Instead, Elisha’s prayer is that his servant would see reality as it is, not simply as it appears.  “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”  Sure enough, the eyes of the servant are opened, and what he sees totally changes his take on the situation.  Elisha and his servant are still surrounded, but the army surrounding them is itself surrounded by an army of angels – by Heaven’s armies. 

Life can stink and the stench might not be exactly what we think.  We can be completely, totally surrounded, and yet still safe. Life is complicated; it is what it is, and yet it is more than that. 

If life has us believing that everything stinks and causes us to feel completely surrounded, that can be true and still not be the whole story, all at the same time. 

Sometimes what we need more than anything else is better vision – for God to help us see things as they are, not as they appear. 

For the times we feel surrounded - 

For the times we feel attacked - 

For the times everything feels negative - 

For the times when everything and everyone just seems to stink – 

Open our eyes Lord, that that we may see.