Do You See What I See?

^{“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”}

^{2 Corinthians 4:18}

I ran across this picture the other day. My husband and I were in the car years ago and were stopped at a red light. (Yes, believe it or not he did stop.) As we were sitting there, this car drove up right next to us. I started laughing not only at the dog with the sunglasses but also at the fact that the dog was completely comfortable with it and seemed as though it was a natural and normal occurrence. He looked at me as if to say, “What’s the matter? Haven’t you ever seen a dog riding in a red

convertible with sunglasses on before?”

I wonder what the dog was seeing as he looked through those sunglasses. Just like I wonder sometimes when you look into the eyes of a new baby, what do they see? I think we would probably be surprised at the answers.

^{“There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”}

^{James 4:12}

I’m sure we have all heard of a crime or event that the eyewitnesses have completely different interpretations of what they saw. That always amazes me how different people view the very same event. This is also true of all of us. When my husband was the principal of our Christian

School, he used the illustration of his staff looking through different port holes. The teacher’s port hole basically zeroed in on their students. The principal’s port hole was a little bigger as it took in all of the teachers and students. Then my husband’s port hole was much bigger as it

included all of the teachers, students, principal, and the entirety of the ministry. Looking through his port hole, he saw things that most didn’t see.

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”

Luke 6:37

This is where trust comes in. Sometimes we don’t always see everything that we need to see to make a proper decision about something or someone. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:14 “Where no

counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

It’s so important that before you make any major changes in your life, you need to seek godly counsel. Notice that I said godly counsel. If you search long and hard enough you can always find someone to side with your thoughts. But are they the right ones?

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

John 7:24

Most of you are probably familiar with the black and white drawing which when some look at it, they would say, “I see an old woman wearing a scarf and a shawl.” While others might say, “It’s not an old woman at all. In fact, I’d say she’s very young and she’s wearing a hat with a feather in it and a fur coat.” Are they looking at 2 different pictures? No! It’s the same picture. Which one is correct? They both are. A great example of the same situation but two very different outlooks. We need to let that be a reminder to us before we judge someone else and their situation. You may not see all the facts. You are looking through a different port hole. So be careful not to jump to

conclusions. Pray for them instead. The only true perspective is seeing with the eyes of God. Trust in Him!

Stop trying to plug into your own strength. Plug into the Lord and be amazed at the limitless power that is yours when you plug into the One Who never has a power outage and Whose power is always available.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”

Isaiah 55:8