Perception of Perspectives

Snow flakes falling from the sky produce different reactions in different people. Elderly people cringe and complain. Kids laugh and lap up falling flakes with outstretched tongues. Drivers in the city dread the traffic jams that come as a result. Skiers rejoice and wake up earlier than snowplow drivers, cramming cold feet into plastic prisons, waiting for first chair. Pedestrians slip and slide, cursing the ground they walk upon. Maintenance men fire up diesel engines, put plows on pickups, and shoulder shovels like an infantry, attacking the white gold that has covered the driveways and sidewalks on their beloved territory.

Perspectives seem right when they are your own, but looking at things from another point of view can also benefit you. When Grandpa sees the joy on the face of Suzy, his frustration becomes in line with her fun. The commute home from work may seem like it takes forever, but it is providing work for road crews who need to put food on the table. Looking at life with someone else's set of eyes is like walking a mile in another man's shoes.

One day, long ago, a group of friends went for a weekend trip away from their home town. Minnesotans like to "Go Up North" for the weekend and that's because it's biblical. Jesus and his disciples are documented doing that same thing in Mark 8. While walking to a place where people worshiped many false gods, Jesus asked his buddies "Who do people say I am?" They told him what the masses have been mumbling; some think Jesus is John the Baptist, others suggest he may be Elijah, and there are folks who thought he was simply a prophet. Then a guy by the name of Pete (who may have been the "teacher's pet") chimes in and says to Jesus, "You are the Messiah." He was correct.

Jesus goes on to tell his friends that he is going to suffer a lot of brutal abuse, be rejected by the people in the church they respect the most, and then he would die. If that's not shocking enough to hear, he tells them that he will come back from the dead three days later. Now, good guy Pete pulls Jesus aside, telling his teacher not to talk all crazy like that. Jesus responds by saying something strong, powerful, and perfect; "Get behind me Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from Gods."

These were words that I needed to hear today. After receiving the news that an elderly couple perished when their house burned down the other night, I struggled to see things from God's eyes. Memories from my childhood spending afternoons at that home flooded my mind. Their grandchildren were my friends from Sunday School, to confirmation, through youth group, and now we catch up when we are in the same place on rare occasions. Losing loved ones is not something we look forward to, it hurts, it brings memories back to the present, and it puts questions in my mind.

As God walks with us through times like these, His hope is that we look at life the way He does. Eternity knows no time constraints. God is eternal and offers eternal life to all of us. In John 17: 3 we see that eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ who was sent to earth. The Holy Spirit helps us know our Father, walk down dark roads with our Friend, and be held in the embrace of God Almighty.