Perspective

Perspective is an interesting thing. You and I could both be looking at the exact same thing and we both could see it completely different. It really depends on how we are looking at it. For example, I have noticed that in our house that several of our newly painted walls have “issues”. They may have nicks, fingerprints, swipe marks or missed spots on them. Just a side note: Regardless of the flaw it really bugs me that newly painted walls can end up this way. This drives me nuts. Anyhow, often times I will notice these problems and ask my wife if she sees them. Most of the time she doesn’t see them from where she is standing, so I’ll have her come over and look it at from my vantage point. It’s not until she changes the way she looks at the wall (i.e. her perspective) does she see the same things that I see.

Several years ago I was staying at a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky on a business trip. I had just finished a long conversation on the telephone with my best friend. After we hungup, I went to bed and had one of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had. And it had to do with perspective. As I lay in bed, I became very restless. Actually I came became so restless that I couldn’t relax and fall asleep. From deep inside me I felt this overwhelming desire and urge to “Go Stand in Front of the Door”. Keep in mind that it’s late, I’m in my underwear(sorry about that mental picture) and all I want to do is to go to sleep. I try to fight this urge but it gets stronger and stronger. It gets to the point where it seems that the only way I am going to get rid of urge, is to get out bed and go stand in front of the door. Finally, I do just that, I get up and go stand in front of the door. The same force that was telling me to get up now leads me to “Look out the Peep Hole”. At this point I figure I’ve got nothing to lose so I might as well see this thing through. I look out the peep hole and see what I expected to see: not much. What I do see is limited, distorted and out of focus. If you've ever looked through a peep hole then you know what I'm talking about. I step away from the peep hole and a voice inside me tells me “This is how you see things”. I turn and try to go back to bed but now I’m led to “Look out the Window”. Next to the door is a huge picture window, it actually seemed oversized. I go over to this window and pull the blinds back and look out the window. I am amazed. Just moments before, I could see virtually nothing when I looked out the peep hole. Now, I can see everything. Not only do I see everything in my field of view but I see it clearly, it’s all in focus. I even have peripheral vision so I can see what’s coming down the hall. The contrast between the two views is staggering, there is no comparison. Two ways of looking at the same thing, two distinctly different viewpoints. The same voice from earlier now tells me “This is how God sees things”. I’m floored…literally.

One of my favorite books is by Dr. Tony Evans and it’s called “Our God is Awesome”. Not that it can ever be completely done or understood, but the book is basically a character study on God. In his book Dr. Evans talks about God’s perspective. He contrasts God view to our view with a parade. Evans says our view of things is like standing on the street watching a parade pass by. We may see the marching band coming by and perhaps a float or two behind the band but we don’t see the whole parade. We can’t see what’s next because our view is limited. We have to wait for each element of the parade to pass us by before we can clearly see the next. It’s not so with God. He has an aerial view of the whole parade. He knows what’s behind the marching band and around the corner. He sees the clowns in their little cars eight blocks away. He sees the fire trucks with people handing out candy coming our way. He even knows when the end of the parade is coming and when Santa Claus will pass us by.

God’s view is not my view. God’s perspective is not my perspective. The Bible says (I’m paraphrasing, not quoting) that “God’s ways are not our ways” and “His thoughts are not our thoughts.” The Bible also goes on to describe how much “Higher” His ways are than ours. What this tells me is that God does not see things the way I see them. He looks at them much, much differently than I do. His perspective is much bigger, much broader and clearer than mine – much more eternal than mine. This is a good thing. I make my decisions based upon only what I can see, touch, feel or think I know. The input that I have in the decision making process is limited. I am limited to the here and now. It’s not so with God. He sees and knows all. Today, tomorrow, a thousand years from now, it doesn’t matter: He knows all and He knows what’s best. I have a bad habit of forgetting this. Sometimes I think that only what I see through the peep hole is all that there is to the picture. I forget that the lenses that I look through are distorted and out of focus. I forget that this is not the real picture of my life or circumstances. I also forget that a parade isn’t made of just one marching band and a float. That’s why I need to trust God, to have the faith that He knows what He is doing and what is best for me. I need to remember that He sees the “whole parade” and He knows what’s beyond the peep hole. So now if you see ever me standing on my tip toes at a parade or standing in my underwear looking out of a picture window, you'll know why. I'm just trying to get the proper perspective.