Do you remember making those paper chains for the Christmas tree when you were little?
Different colors of construction paper were cut into long strips. The first strip was made into a circle by connecting the two ends together with a little paste. A second strip of paper was then fed through the circle and pasted at the ends, so that you had two connected circles. Another strip was then linked through the second circle, the ends pasted, giving you three circles. The process continued until you had a long paper chain, which was put on the Christmas tree for decoration.
I've found that's how God sometimes speaks to me. He links things together throughout the day that ultimately present a message to me. Today he linked people's "perspectives."
a "PERSPECTIVE" is
a point of view or
a way of looking at something.
It's funny how several people can witness a particular event, but when you ask them what they saw, they all have their own unique perspective. They all see things differently. Sometimes their perspective is due to their geographical location... the angle at which they see the event happen. One person may see things that another person is blind to. People's perspectives also tend to effected by their personalities, traditions, experiences, friends' opinions and more. They all interpret situations differently. Sometimes one's perspective is correct. Sometimes, however, it's only partially correct. And even other times, it can be wrong. They may have made erroneous assumptions, or jumped to conclusions not based on facts. Overall...
I have found that listening to several
people's perspectives on something can often
give me a more accurate perspective of my own.
So here's how God linked together various events throughout my day to speak to me:
1) While doing my morning devotion, I read how some people's PERSPECTIVE of God is like that of a judge. They feel that God is always judging them on their lack of perfection. The devotional used John 3:16-17 to show the Biblical PERSPECTIVE of the character of God, which is quite different.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him."
2) Later in the morning, I was facilitating a class in which we were discussing our PERSPECTIVES on God the Father. The idea was presented that an individual's image of God The Father, is often molded, (positively or negatively), by the image they have of their own father. So if their own father was loving and protective, they see God as loving and protective. If their father was demanding and angry, they view God as demanding and angry. Once again, the point here is that one's PERSPECTIVE can be erroneous. The character of God the Father is not the same as one's earthly father.
3) We then took that idea to the fathers in the group and reminded them that their kids would be forming a unique PERSPECTIVE of God the Father, based on them. (LOL. There's a challenge!)
4) After the group, I had lunch with a good friend of mine. Amongst the many things we discussed she brought up the idea of eventually expanding my PERSPECTIVE in some of my writing. I must admit, I was a little defensive at first, but told her I would consider her thoughts on the matter.
5) Later in the afternoon, I had attended a small group meeting in which we were discussing two opposing PERSPECTIVES on connecting with God. One person noted that it was very difficult to try to connect with an invisible God that he couldn't see or touch. Knowing that this individual desperately wants to make that Divine Connection, I encouraged him to talk to and watch those who are connecting with God for their PERSPECTIVE on things. He is such a living example of how some people are blind to what others see.
6) After giving this great advice on how to expand one's thinking by taking other people's PERSPECTIVES into mind, I got to thinking... Perhaps my friend at lunch was seeing something that I was missing? At the very least, her thoughts to expand my PERSPECTIVE were worth my prayerful consideration. Even if I wasn't quite ready to expand my PERSPECTIVE, I should at least contemplate why she is thinking differently from me.
7) As I untie my RED sneakers and place them in the closet, I am heading off to bed, to talk with God about my writing. It's time to find out what His PERSPECTIVE is on all this. I'm all ears now. After all, He is the senior partner. He tends to think much more "out of the box" than I do. But I've noticed that His ideas are good... well actually, they're GREAT!
So today's RED shoes walked me from one place to another, putting together a"chain of perspectives" that has led me back to God. It seems I'm beginning to figure out how these RED shoes work.
Gail
3) We then took that idea to the fathers in the group and reminded them that their kids would be forming a unique PERSPECTIVE of God the Father, based on them. (LOL. There's a challenge!)
4) After the group, I had lunch with a good friend of mine. Amongst the many things we discussed she brought up the idea of eventually expanding my PERSPECTIVE in some of my writing. I must admit, I was a little defensive at first, but told her I would consider her thoughts on the matter.
5) Later in the afternoon, I had attended a small group meeting in which we were discussing two opposing PERSPECTIVES on connecting with God. One person noted that it was very difficult to try to connect with an invisible God that he couldn't see or touch. Knowing that this individual desperately wants to make that Divine Connection, I encouraged him to talk to and watch those who are connecting with God for their PERSPECTIVE on things. He is such a living example of how some people are blind to what others see.
6) After giving this great advice on how to expand one's thinking by taking other people's PERSPECTIVES into mind, I got to thinking... Perhaps my friend at lunch was seeing something that I was missing? At the very least, her thoughts to expand my PERSPECTIVE were worth my prayerful consideration. Even if I wasn't quite ready to expand my PERSPECTIVE, I should at least contemplate why she is thinking differently from me.
7) As I untie my RED sneakers and place them in the closet, I am heading off to bed, to talk with God about my writing. It's time to find out what His PERSPECTIVE is on all this. I'm all ears now. After all, He is the senior partner. He tends to think much more "out of the box" than I do. But I've noticed that His ideas are good... well actually, they're GREAT!
So today's RED shoes walked me from one place to another, putting together a"chain of perspectives" that has led me back to God. It seems I'm beginning to figure out how these RED shoes work.Gail
