PERSPECTIVE

PERSPECTIVE

From the artistic point of view, Perspective is a technique used in drawing or painting to give an image on a flat surface a sense of depth. An artist uses this nifty tool to make his/her imagery look more realistic and accurate as we see it in real life.

Have you ever had a beautiful picture of yourself or a mental picture that portrayed who you really are? It’s crystal clear that we’ve got some pictures of who we are, in terms of our physical structures, emotional make-up, our innate abilities; strengths and weaknesses. Truth is, our perspectives set the tone of our life outcomes. Having a shallow perspective of yourself and God will have an adverse effect on your life productivity.

A special friend intimated me of a little vulnerable, innocent 4 –year-old girl who was about going into a bus with her elder sister when she discovered she had inadvertently dropped her tiny precious shoes, she was helpless that she broke down into uncontrollable tears. Rather than relieve her of her pains, her big sister squeezed her ears and mouth. She tried hard to shut her down, so they could continue the journey in peace. Suddenly, driven with passion, the bus conductor jumped down to pick up the pair of shoes just to ease a little troubled heart. That was so thoughtful of him.

That sounds applicable to daily living. Most of us grew up from an environment that discouraged the full expression of our innate feelings. We have been conditioned not to cry even in the midst of our fears, insecurities and chaos. When we cried silently, there was no one to comfort us. That childhood experience, as it were, seemed to make us tough and we have in turn, built the wall of defense around ourselves. We have carved out a self-built protective mechanism to withstand the pressures of life. We have an adorned mask to cover up who we are. As a result of ugly experiences, we often withdraw to a shell of introspectiveness and adopt a wrong perception about life.
Life’s demands have shaped the mirror through which we observe life. We have lost our real core to the myriad of life challenges. We have given life a license to define us. We define life as: The unpleasant, a take- it -by- force thingy, unfair bash, indomitable battle, overwhelming crucible…to mention but few.

To some of us, these definitions have emerged from the pangs of painful past, unbearable agony, broken home, unhealthy conditioning, traumatic experiences, betrayal of Love, shattered and unfulfilled dreams, futile endeavours, poor self image, unmet expectations of people and life as a whole. Friends, we do not have to let life happen to us. We should rather happen to life.

Consequently, we have passed this view of life on to our view of God which has altered our intimacy with Him many times over. Our shallow view has limited our personal experiences of His greatness. We tend to box God in. We merely see Him as a mean-looking, cold-blooded old ogre, the creator of heaven and earth, the maker of the aquatic world (Oceans, rivers, fishes etc), skies, birds, domestic and wild animals and all the inhabitants of the earth but not to view Him as a Father.

Sometimes, it’s so easy to view Him as the father of all; but we don’t get to see Him as our FATHER. We generalize our experiences with Him and we are too paranoid to see Him in our personal life issues. We often think He’ll be mad at us, or lash out on us if we cry out to Him or spill our guts, pouring out our pent-up emotions or expectations of ourselves, others and Him.

We all have pictures of who God is, imprinted in our hearts but they are being determined by our experiences, our imperfect sights, warped perspective, distorted view, small mindedness and defeatist mindset tend to carve an imperfect image of God. Our small descriptions do not come close to who He really is. Our false conclusion is that if God existed, He was some faraway being that wasn’t close to contact and allowed adversities into our lives. In spite of this, He is a loving father who cares for His own children.

We do not feel an iota of His Love, because of the fact that we picture Him from the wrong perspective. We are Influenced by culture, background, the past and present experiences. Thus, we find it inexpressibly hard to experience His Love.

Ultimately, It’s so wonderful to know that we’ve got a father who is not just bi-lingual but multi-lingual.. He speaks all of human's heart languages . He knows exactly what we need in every season and responds to them. He speaks our languages; yours and mine. All we need do is to speak to Him, He knows our feelings and He understands our perspectives when we can’t form words. When we are uncertain of His presence, He is there.

Through it all; after my soul-cleansing experiences, I have a clearer perspective of who He is to me more than ever. I dare to call Him:
 The unseen one who never dies(Psalms 102:27)
 The all-seeing God (Hebrews 4:13)
 A life- time Personal Dad(Psalm 103:13, Isaiah 46:4)
 A Wonderful, Heavenly Counselor (Psalm 32:8)
 The Infallible God (James 1:17, Romans 16:27)
 An ever- present Shepherd (Isa 40:11)

What's your perspective?