Perception

There is an old saw that says that perception is reality. In other words whatever someone thinks is true, is true. The only problem with this is that there are as many perceptions as there are people. But there is only one truth.

So whose perception trumps all others?

Not surprisingly the answer is God’s.

This begs the question then, what does God think? About me, about my family, church, the world, etc. The answer to all those questions is found in the Bible.

I can tell you one thing for certain and that is that God doesn’t see things the same way we do. Especially us. We tend to fall into 2 traps, either we manage to justify our behavior until we think we’re pretty near perfect, or we don’t give ourselves a break and we think God doesn’t either.

The problem lies in our perception of ourselves, but also in our perception of God. At times He does have to take on the role of judge, but that is not what He delights in. In reality He wants to be our Father and He looks at us as His children.

What I’m trying to say although it sounds clichéd almost is that He loves us. He isn’t waiting in heaven for us to make a mistake so he can whack us with a lightning bolt. He is rooting for us. He hurts when we hurt, He wants us to be happy. He wants the very best for us. Sometimes that isn’t what we think is best, but his understanding is way beyond ours.

I have two small children. Sometimes they insist on doing things their way. It takes sooo much longer to do anything! I find myself wanting to snatch whatever it is and say “Here let me do that.” If we are insistent on doing things our own way God will, at times, stand back and let us flounder around. But everything goes smoother if we let Him help. Again we think we know the way to go, the course to pursue. We have a perception of the situation.

But you see the trick in all this perception business is that reality doesn’t exist in the physical world. We can be tricked pretty easily. This is the illusion. Reality rests in the spiritual world. And God is waiting for us to acknowledge His presence in both realms.