Perspective Lens

I'm sure you've heard the phrase "rose colored glasses" before, right? 

A person wears "rose colored glasses" when a situation looks better to them than it is in reality.The interesting thing about this analogy is that out of necessity, the very person that accuses another of wearing rose colored glasses is wearing a set of glasses himself!

As human beings, we all wear a set of glasses, whether or not we realize it.

These glasses are the shade of our beliefs, tinted by our experience and framed by our lives up to this very moment.

You've probably heard these glasses referred to as worldviews and whether or not you're aware of it, your worldview affects your life each and every day.

To put it more simply, the worldview you have, or the " pair of glasses" you wear, is your view on life, the way in which you take in information and make choices in life.

If you want to see these glasses illustrated in real life, just go spend considerable time with anybody from outside your own culture. Chances are that the way they expect life to work and other people to act is vastly different from your own view.

The family situation we grew up with has a huge impact on our worldviews.

The region or place we grew up in, thoughts of books we read, opinions from TV we watch, and even stances taken by people we admire also affect them. Regardless of how it is formed, it is important to realize the massive impact that our worldviews have on our lives as they shape our beliefs, standards, and actions.

An important note about these worldview glasses is that because you don't intentionally put them on, they have a very sneaky way of affecting things without you realizing it.

This sneakiness can be extremely dangerous!

Often, when we make choices or judgments because we assume them to be 'right' or 'true' simply because we have already put thought into them and have come to that conclusion.

However, just because we come to a personal conclusion does not make our conclusion true.

I want to suggest something to you.

Is it possible that you may not have a perfect worldview?

Dumb question right?

Here's another question, what all does your worldview affect in your life?

Does it affect your walk with Christ?

Not sure? I have a theory.

I think it is entirely possible that much of our morality is defined through our specific glasses that we wear. It may even be probable that most of us live our Christian lives according to a standard set by 'norms' of things acceptable according to our worldviews.

When questioned about entertainment choices, a very common response is,

"I think I'm mature enough to handle this" 

or "Its not hurting anybody."

Maybe for someone else, the justification they would use would be that their Christian friends, parents, or even Pastors are ok with it.

Let's try a different lens on for a size for a second. Intentionally set aside all beliefs for a moment to consider this question.

Does is please God? 

Pause. 

I didn't ask, "Would God really care all that much?"

This is the question we would like to ask, and probably the one we do ask all to often when making our decisions. Let's consider this again.

Does it (your belief, standard, or action) please God? 

Does your choice bring glory to God and set a good example for those around you? 

By now you're probably thinking, "Yeah, but if you use a standard that extreme, where does it stop? Are you saying I can't watch any TV or hang out outside of Church?"

Absolutely not! But I am saying that you need to stop looking at the world solely through your own glasses and look through God's! 

Does the way you joke around with your friends please God?

How about the music that you listen to? The movies you watch? The places you hang out? The internet sites you visit?

I encourage you, take off your glasses and think hard about this!

If you start to feel uncomfortable, you're probably doing it right! 

Don't try to shake that feeling because it may very well be the Holy Spirit trying to help you take off your glasses.

Did you know that God commands us to live holy lives because he is holy?

Sure it is difficult, but do you want to know the first step to getting there?

Stop justifying your actions with lame excuses!

I challenge you, take this week to evaluate your actions through a different lens.

May your choices, beliefs, and actions be pleasing to God.

‘And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God'

Col 1:10 

Power Source

Lightning erupts from the sky, sending 1 billion volts of energy crashing to the ground at 140,000 mph!

Earthquakes shatter the ground, effortlessly ripping through steel and stone!

The Sun, so large that 1.3 MILLION earths could fit into it, burns fiercely, giving light and energy to our entire solar system!

Each of these images are sources of almost unfathomable power to us! The amount of energy released from each of these is flat out ridiculous! Within the energy released lies great power to cause great fear and chaos, or in some cases, sustenance and provision.

However, though these forces are daunting because of the force they contain, they could not even dream of having the power to raise the dead! Guess what could?

The name of Jesus!

Did you know that when Jesus died, such an enormous power was released that according to Matthew 27, "The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life."

Crazy!

 I honestly think the Sun wishes he could do that!

Yeah, you're probably starting to catch onto my theme here, but don't shut down just yet. You see, just because you have a head knowledge of this fact does not in anyway necessitate that you live like you do!

So often, we try to have realistic expectations of what God will do in our lives. We pray from the standpoint of someone wishing that God will be able to muster up a bit of his over-exhausted power to use on our situations, hoping only for a tiny little something.

Many times, because of life experience, I hear people pray with no expectation of God to move, almost as if they were saying, 
"I know you can probably do this God, but I don't want to get my hopes up" 
thus, rendering any faith they might have had, useless.

Do you know the name of Him who you call on?

All of the energy from all of the lightning, earthquakes, and sun rays spanning throughout all of history cannot begin to compare to the smallest fraction of power found in the name of Jesus.

Do you really believe this?

There is a way you can tell for sure:

Look at what you're believing for.

Are you expecting God to do anything big? Are you actually believing that God will move in your situation? Or are you just expecting to deal with and/or fix your own situation?

Gut check.

It may be time for a perspective change.

Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament believed that God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."

Do you believe in this God?
Prove it!
What are you going to believe God for in your life?

⁷ The voice of the LORD strikes
   with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
   the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the LORD twists the oaks^[s]
   and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

Psalm 29:7-9

A Deeper Reality

Sand slipping through our fingers, slithering away, disregarding the holder.

A Balloon floats away,  narrowly avoiding every attempt of the owner to pull it back to earth, until it is absorbed into eternal blue.

The Sun sets, despite protesters begging time not to leave as the hours quickly vanish into the darkness.

Everyone has had those moments. When something unexpected happens to throw the comfortable sense of reality we have built around ourselves to the ground. An uncomfortable reminder of the truth of our humanity... the truth that everyone knows but wants to forget. As hard as we may try, the simple truth of the matter is:

We can't control anything that happens in these lives of ours.

The best we can hope for is to influence events in our favor. We can control how we behave and decisions we make, but in reality, we're really just feathers blown about by the wind, choosing only how we react to life as it happens.

Sometimes bad things happen that are absolutely out of our control. Financial investments fall through due to unforeseen circumstances. Close, trusted ones violate trust and cause pain, though completely unprovoked. Loved ones pass away despite perfect health the day beforehand. Humanity's lack of control is a fact buried deep in the core of our existence.

This reality will, ultimately, demand to meet us at some point in our fragile lives.

However, despite the weight of this truth that we so often try to hide from, there is a greater reality still that must be looked at in these times. 

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God"

Though we lack control, that does not mean that the universe has no control or that no one controls it. In fact, control has been woven deeply into the fabric of reality, but it is not humanity that holds it. In times when things slip out of our control, we can look to the deeper truth that we serve a God who does have control in his hands.

Though it may be hard to see or understand why something slips out of our control, the proper response, the only real response, is to be still and let God be God.

Humanity is our lot in life. 

Control will never be in reach. 

Trust will.

In whatever season of life you are in, may you meet reality's challenge for control with the deeper truth in where real control lies.

Be still, and know that he is God.