Recently, while visiting my oldest daughter and her two little girls, I had taken my glasses off so that I could better rough house with them a little.
One of my favorite things to do with these little munchkins is to swoop them up in my arms, swing them around a bit, and then bury my face in the crook of their neck and kiss them until they squeal with delight. And as you can imagine, that kind of playing has bent my glasses out of shape on more than one occasion – and so I’m getting a little better at taking them off first.
But this particular Saturday, as I was drawing near to the two-year old (a miniature of her momma at that age) to gobble her up, she gave me a funny look, stuck her arm out pointing her little finger squarely at my face, and slowly issued to me a very specific instruction: “Put you glasses on.”
Now maybe it’s one of those things that you just had to be there to appreciate, but it really was quite hysterical and had me chuckling for many days afterwards. What a precious little darling she is!
But then as the days went by, her words began to ring in my ear for another reason. Let me explain.
I have been leading a ‘small group’ through my church for almost 2 years now, the general theme of which is ‘the inherent power of the Word of God (as contained in the Bible) to address/satisfy every need and overcome every circumstance we face here on earth’. And as one might suspect, we are continually referring to the Word of God (the Bible) for insight as to what God has to say about any particular matter of life.
We have studied ‘prosperity’ and provision. We have studied ‘health’ and healing. We have studied ‘wisdom’. But whatever the subject of study, one thing is required in order to hear and comprehend so that you can experience change … that you ‘change your focus/perspective’ from that of the reader (i.e. the one stuck in the quagmire of a particular circumstance) to that of the Ruler (.e. the one who reigns over all).
A change of perspective. A change of vision.
And isn’t that what eye-glasses do? They heighten and improve your focus so that what was once blurry is now easily recognizable and identifiable. And with that empowerment (to recognize and identify) comes the ability to execute with wisdom and authority (where once was doubt and confusion).
Thankfully, when I take my glasses off to play with my grandchildren, I can still see well enough without do most things with competence. I can still see and recognize people. I can still drive. I can still read … well, sort of. But all those things require a lot more effort and eye-strain to do them as opposed to when I’m wearing my glasses.
It’s the same when facing the circumstances of life. Natural reasoning can work, sometimes. We’ve all experienced a certain level of success grunting through life on our own wisdom and strength. But how exhausting!
What I really need when facing the circumstances of life – be it sickness, challenges at work, relationship issues, or whatever – is a higher perspective.
“I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.
So you’ll go out in joy,
you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. (Isaiah 55:8-13, The Message)
And in order to obtain that higher perspective described in Isaiah 55, I need to exchange my thinking for His thinking. For He sees future events as though they already were, and He is always leading and guiding me into His best … if I will just trust Him enough to follow His leading. And it is far easier to trust and follow the leader (Leader) when you have confidence in their (His) vision, right? (Especially when where He appears to be leading exactly where you don’t want to go! Lots of stories to tell there!)
So here’s to putting on my “God glasses” (and keeping them on!) so that I can see things more closely to the way that He sees them. And from that higher perspective, may I daily be empowered by faith to trust and follow Him into the “whole and complete life” that He has planned for me!!
Blessings,
Jenny
PuttingHopeToWork 