Wrong Perception Produces Wrong Acting…
Isaiah 45:9-11 (Amplified Bible)
9Woe to him who strives with his Maker!--a worthless piece of broken pottery among other pieces equally worthless [and yet presuming to strive with his Maker]! Shall the clay say to him who fashions it, What do you think you are making? or, Your work has no handles? 10Woe to him [who complains against his parents that they have begotten him] who says to a father, What are you begetting? or to a woman, With what are you in travail? 11Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Would you question Me about things to come concerning My children, and concerning the work of My hands [would you] command Me?
Almost a year ago our Bishop in a teaching moment said something so profound it changed my life, and added a different perspective to how I viewed life. He said “when I realized that I was not in control of much in my life then I learned not to worry and stop trying to figure it out.” I had never seen things from that vantage point before. I had always been one who would stress and worry, but when I heard him say that it was like God arrested that moment just to speak to me, to change my way of thinking and the way I was doing life. That is not to say I do not make plans or steps to do things, but I understand that I am not the creator of my time and space, my life and what God’s will and desire is for my life. I realize that I need to submit my plans to God that they may be established if He chooses. I understand that I can be the best me only when I am willing to submit my life to God and walk out His plan and purpose for my life not my own. God knows what is best for me, and I could not make my life any better than what His designed for me even if I tried, why because He is the creator not me.
The other day I received an email and it had a statement in it that gave me cause to pause. One line said “it is good to place it in God’s hands.” A few lines down said something to the effect that now it was up to them to have (or make out of the situation) whatever it is they wanted. We can submit things to the Lord and wait on Him for direction, guidance and a plan, but if He says no it should be a no and not I am going to do it anyway. I don’t believe it is possible to have God’s perspective and still make it what “we” want it to be, because our flesh will ultimately get in the way. There will be some element within the task that will become difficult for the flesh to submit to, it will be a conflict between flesh and spirit and then God’s perspective may lose out to our will, if we are not dedicated to a process of letting God be God, the designer of our destiny and the one who predestines and our lives. Just like before that word came on that Sunday morning, I thought I was in control of things and I stressed and worried how things were going to get done, and I would stress, myself sick, that was because my perspective was I had something to do with the outcome, that I could change the flow of things. I use to believe that if I acted a certain way, or gave just that much more that people would love, accept or see me for who God made me to be. I had to learn that those God ordained to be in my life would want to learn me enough to see the real me and to seek God to understand who I was because they understood their purpose for being in my life and vice versa. I have learned that as long as I think that I am running something, I am going to stress, worry and try to control myself into being sick, stressed and all out of sorts.
Understanding that really God is the one in control, we save ourselves a lot of worry and unnecessary anxiety. If we can gain the perspective that our life should be seated in Him and that we should be submitted to God in a way that we yield to His touch, His voice, His will and His word, we would be so much better off. That we do not worry for tomorrow because we understand that tomorrow is already taken care of. We should not stress when people don’t love or see us for who God ordained us to be, because obviously it is not God’s desire or design for them to be in our lives. If we can gain God’s perspective we would not complain and wrestle with God on issues or with people as well. We would understand that truly, “All things work together for the good to them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” If we can grasp that God is the potter and that we are the clay and that it is He that is molding and shaping us into the vessel He desires we would stop trying to jump off the potter’s wheel and submit to His touch. If we could grab a hold that if we would just learn to follow and let Him lead, our lives would not be in such turmoil, upset and misalignment, but that we would begin to experience an uncommon peace even in the midst of times that would and do try men’s souls. If we maintain the wrong perspective surely we will have the wrong motives and the wrong actions. Right perspective and right thinking really does produce right acting and right living!
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