Good afternoon Facebook friends! I think people sometimes argue over the silliest things. For example: two people can look at exactly the same object and see two completely different things. Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. Who cares if it’s half empty or half full as long as we have a glass and there’s something in it? Another silly thing that people disagree about is whether or not the toilet paper should come off the roller over the top or under the bottom? Why, that’s easy. Everyone knows it should come over the top. Gotcha! Many will argue it should come off from the bottom. You should be thankful just to find some in the bathroom. You could be one of those people yelling out, “Honey, will you toss me a roll” only to hear, “Sorry, we’re all out!” And for those of us who live alone, well, we’re up the creek because we don’t have anyone to holler at! Okay, back to point of the story. It’s all about perception and how we perceive things. I often teach a class in which I use a picture to illustrate how easily perception differs among people. I use a picture of a young woman and an old woman. Which you see is determined by how you look at the picture. Most often the majority sees the old woman first. In the class, we don’t proceed until everyone is able to see both women in the picture. Sometimes it takes several minutes to accomplish this task. In most cases I have to color in the outlines of both women in order for everyone to see both sides of the picture. I’ve taught this class many times and I have noticed those who seem to have the greatest difficulty in seeing both women in the picture are also those who have the greatest difficulty in adapting to change and accepting a suggestion or idea different from their own. I am not being derogatory toward anyone in any way, I am merely pointing out an observation. Just because two people see things differently does not automatically mean one of them is wrong and the other is right. It actually says neither of them is seeing the whole picture. Neither of them is seeing all the possibilities or probabilities. Instead of arguing about the differences and claiming our way is the only way, I wonder if it would be more advantageous for us to sit down and listen until we can see the other person’s viewpoint as well as our own. Would our final decisions be better? I think so. Along these same lines, I think it would be advantageous for each of us to sit down with Jesus and listen to Him until we have understanding of how He sees the picture of our lives. Imagine this with me, if He were sitting across the table from you describing your life, what would He say? Would you recognize it as yours? Would He see things from a much different perspective than you see them? I wonder if what we rate as “high priority” would be the same things He would zero in on. I have often heard people say, “You are the only Jesus some people will ever see.” If this is true, I pray we are living examples through which others will perceive the unfailing love, mercy, and grace that Jesus offers each of us. If you find yourself in arguments and disagreements over trivial matters that are not really that important remember the saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff!” Change your focus. Be willing to listen. But, most of all try to see what Jesus is seeing. And, while you’re looking and listening never forget, “Jesus Loves YOU!”
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:42:32 +0000
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