Tag: perspective

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Lens check.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.” Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I went to get my eyes checked because I thought something might be wrong with my eyes. It was getting harder to read small print up close, without adequate lighting. I thought, “oh, here we go, my eyes are going bad!” My optometrist checked my eyes and gave me the news. I braced for the worst. He said, “there is nothing wrong with your eyes.” I retorted in disbelief, “but I can’t see as clearly as I used to.” He replied, “yeah, your old and your eyes ability to focus get a little weaker, you just need some help with reading glasses.” I wasn’t going blind, I was just getting old!

Is it possible that our perspective, our mental, emotional lenses can effect what we see happening around us? The wisdom writers confirm, it can and it does. The ESV translation is accurate in giving us the original Hebrew version, “all the days of the afflicted (ani: poor, afflicted) are evil (ra’: adversity).” The perspective from those who are poor, physically and/or spiritually is ALWAYS tainted with adversity. From their lens, their daily picture of what life is and what life gives, is all hardship and trouble.

I see people, I talk with people who live this way. Even though they may not actually be physically or spiritually poor, their lens only sees bleakness and doom. I spend a few minutes with them and I’m depressed just listening to their litany of tragedy. I can’t talk them out of it, I only listen and grieve with them. It’s always the same perspective of misery.

Proverbs contrasts this lens with another view. The one who’s heart is happy. Isn’t that interesting. A happy heart is the corrective lens that is able to see differently. The cheerful (towb: beautiful, pleasant, agreeable) heart sees a whole different life. This heart sees a feast (mishteh: a feast), a party filled with friends, food and laughter. I also talk with people like this! They are usually upbeat and are so excited to tell me about all the good things that are happening in their life. How strange! The contrast and comparison is wildly different. Can I be honest? I don’t enjoy being around forever negative people. I feel it is my Biblical responsibility and pastoral duty to do so.

The miserable are ALWAYS miserable and the cheerful are ALWAYS cheerful? We know that can’t be true. There must be some good things that come to the despondent heart. And, conversely, there must be some bad things that come to the cheerful heart. But the lens, the perspective, seems to be radically different.

When I start seeing everything as trouble and adversarial, I need to get my heart lens checked. I will find that my heart is not broken, it just gets tired and overwhelmed. I need to get some “spiritual readers,” to help me focus and get clarity on what I see. My heart is the lens of my soul’s view of life! I need to tend to correcting its focus! God’s Word, the Holy Spirit and close friends are my corrective lenses. They help me focus my heart to get a Godly perspective of reality.

Prayer

Dad,
Who can know my heart, my thoughts, my motives better than you. When my heart is sad, my perspective is dark and blurry. But when I spend time with you, especially in Your Word and prayer, you comfort my heart, you lift my soul from despair. As I have learned from the Psalmists, I can be completely open and honest with my feelings, but ultimately I need help tweaking my lenses to see what is true, right and good. Thank you for tending to my heart which dictates my view of everything around me.

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Three tools to view God’s promises.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” Psalms‬ ‭121:1-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A microscope, binoculars and a telescope. I think of these three tools when I read the wonderfully grand promises of God written in Psalms.

Remember the “wow” factor of looking through these glass visual aids and discovering a world you never knew existed. I read a book, How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Stephen Johnson, where the author lists glass as the number one greatest discovery ever! With these three tools we can go from micro to macro views of our world in just a moment. With one we see incredible detail viewing things on a molecular level the eye alone could never see. With the other we see millions of miles beyond our wildest imagination. These tools help me frame God’s promises.

Normally I may read the Psalms with a microscopic view because I am in pain or struggling with difficult circumstances. And, when I use this very narrow purview, I am looking for God to come and help me NOW. But the Psalmist helps me see other perspectives, with a broader scope. He writes about by day and night. Then I switch to an even more robust, macro view and read that God watches over my life! I write this because I must be reminded that God is my rescue at each and every level.

Sometimes, I impatiently get buried in brain-ruts (repetitive neural pathways) and allow myself to feel trapped or squeezed by some random event or some small comment someone made. My mind starts spinning, spiraling down into the cellular level of doubts and fears like out of some creepy sci-fi movie. I instinctively grab the microscope lens of the Psalms to look for comfort amidst the swirling chaos of my own thoughts. Maybe I need to switch my view, my perspective tools and grab some binoculars to see the day, week or month differently. To allow the Spirit of God to bring Shalom, peace, to lower my blood pressure and remember God’s goodness, His trustworthiness.

And maybe, in my own life or the life of others, I need to grab the telescopic view, the really long view of life, even with eternity in mind. I have to laugh at myself to remember, I am not likely going to DIE over some comment or even some failure. And, even if some major event did happen, God let’s me know through His word, He’s still got me in the palm of His hand. God not only controls and shapes the circumstances of my moment or my day, but also my eternity! God keeps watch both now and forever!!

PRAYER:

Dad,
You are a GOOD God, a GOOD father. I give thanks because your love endures forever. You are ever mindful of me. Your grace, mercy are great and you are so long suffering. Thank you for the Psalms, the writings that remind me of your faithfulness to and throughout all generations!