Whose point of view are you using as you walk through life? God‘s or your own?
My idea for my question comes out of the Bible‘s Judges 17:6:
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (ESV)
It was a lawless time long ago and the ruler of Israel was God.
Samuel was their prophet and led the people, ultimately making his sons judges.
But those sons were evil, and the leaders decided they’d be better off with a real king, rather than a prophet and his corrupt sons.
Tired of Samuel, they wanted someone they could see, “like the other countries.”
Samuel appealed to the Lord, who replied:
“Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”
They didn’t care about God’s point of view. They wanted to use their own wisdom to control their nation, and themselves.
So God let them.
It didn’t turn out well.
What is a point of view?
In literature, the point of view is the person through whose eyes the story is told.
One of the first lessons a writer learns is writing in one point of view.
“Head-hopping,” or jumping from point of view as is often done in movies, is called “omniscient point of view,” and can confuse the reader.
It makes more sense to hear the story from one person’s perception, rather than several. You can follow the story and understand better.
(Think how maddening, or completing, it is to hear the same story told by a group of people interrupting each other).
Everyone brings to their own understanding their past, their fears, their biases when it comes to assessing what happened in a given situation.
That’s why justice requires the testimony of several people.
If several people agree on the same story, chances improve it is true.
So what is God’s point of view?
That would be how God sees something.
His vision can best be figured out by reading the Bible.
God never contradicts Himself, or Jesus or the Holy Spirit.
His character remains consistent through eternity.
We can count on it not changing.
Photo by Luca Baggio (Unsplash)
God sees believers through the lens of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Since He cannot otherwise look upon sin, God can only see us through that “Jesus lens.”
He gives us his point of view frequently in Scripture. Here are four examples.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (ESV)
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)
“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19 (NIV)
If you need more reminders, Officers’ Christian Fellowship provides a PDF on the Character of God.
What difference does it make?
When we run into a problem, trouble, heartache or trial, the overriding point of view can make a big difference in our response.
Do we rely on our own understanding of the situation, or do we acknowledge God may be doing something we don’t know about?
Our reaction to the situation can determine how well we come through it.
The key is deciding whose point of view we will trust–our own or God’s.
That involves faith, of course, along with spiritual discipline.
In the February 8 My Utmost for His Highest reading, Oswald Chambers warns:
“Sanctification [the process of becoming holy] means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view.
God sees each of us within the sweep of eternity. (Photo by adrian on Unsplash)
“It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone.”
As Christians, our desires should be to please God alone, no matter the cost to ourselves.
Rather than a stiff-upper-lip/gut-it-out response to difficulties, choosing to believe in God’s point of view can be a relief.
We just have to turn the prism of our expectations and try to see how God may be looking at the same circumstances.
Or not even that.
We choose to trust the God who created us, to bring to pass that which is good for us and which will bring Him glory.
Practical steps
When distressed, worried, upset, afraid, I can wallow in those emotions.
(And the Lord knows we have emotions!)
But after a while, even I get tired of those emotions–tears and often anger.
I can then (or if you’re better than me, start here), tell God what I’m feeling and why.
He can take it–because He sees me through His point of view, not mine.
He sees beyond eternity to the purposes He has in a given situation.
I then choose–will I trust Him or depend on myself?
It works best if I choose to trust God with the circumstances of my life.
Sometimes, He even gives me a glimpse of what He’s up to.
But I don’t count on it.
Because I worship the God who spans time, and who knows what He is doing.
He also will never leave me nor forsake me. He holds my hand, as it were, as He presses into the future.
Thanks be to God.
Whose point of view do you seek?
Tweetables
Whose point of view do you prefer–God’s or your own? Click to Tweet
If God can create the world, can you trust Him with your circumstances? Click to Tweet
What is God’s point of view about our circumstances? Click to Tweet
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