Month: April 2014

Why didn’t I see that before?

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I’ve been attending church since I was born. My grandmother made sure that the 6 grand-kids were in church…..even if she had to take us herself! I was raised Southern Baptist. Like any good Southern Baptist I was in Sunday school very regularly. I have heard all of the standard, more popular Bible stories at least 1 time a year for the first 13 years of my life. You know the “well known” Old Testament stuff like Adam and Eve, Noah, David and Goliath and Moses leading his people out of Egypt. I know the stories very well. Those are just stories that are historical or metaphorical. At least I thought that is all they are…….

A few years ago Angela was teaching the 3 and 4 year olds on Sundays at church. On Saturday nights she would go over the lesson to prepare for the next day. She would read it out loud and I would usually listen because she is so animated, that she makes it fun. Not to mention she is really cute also.  Anyway as she would read these stories, I would almost always see some kind of symbolism or alternate reason for the story. Something that I hadn’t seen before was revealed regularly!  I began to see how things would point to our Savior or the need for Him. I had been avoiding some of these stories or glancing through them because I knew them already. Was I having these revelations because I was more “educated” scripturally? Was I more mature in my relationship with Christ so I could see things that I wasn’t ready to see before? Was it because the Bible is God’s living word, and that is how God talks to me? Or was it because I was finally paying attention? The answer is yes! Yes, to all of those questions.

There are some things that a 9-year-old just isn’t ready to understand. The Bible is full of things that this 41-year-old isn’t ready to understand! My desire to have communication with God has caused me to pay more attention to His Word! It has been a blessing to reread some of these stories. The Bible is God’s inerrant, living word. As we mature and go through different seasons in our life, He will speak into our lives through His Word. Do yourself a favor, go back and reread the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2 & 3). Before you do, go someplace quiet, ask God to reveal more to you, more than you have already seen, as much as you are ready to see. Do this whenever you read His Word. I promise that you will see something that you have never seen before.

2 Timothy 3:16

Truth is…….

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My mom has 2 sisters and 1 brother. She is the 2nd youngest of the siblings. My grandparents were married over 50 years before my grandfather passed away (right at 60, I believe). I have 1 sister and 4 cousins. So there was always a good size crowd at family dinners or holidays. We were a close family. I am the oldest grandchild by 2 years. Then 3 were born in August of the same year. There must have been a cold winter or a long power outage or a bunch of rain in Florida 9 months before then! Anyway, then a few years later the last 2 were born. The 6 cousins got along OK most of the time. There were 3 boys and 3 girls, so the teams were even. However, like most kids there was always a little mischief. Things got broken, feelings got hurt, explosions, small fires, and people got tied up and left behind the barn…you know, little things. Like most kids, the other 5 never knew anything when they were interrogated by the adults. I on the other hand would go ahead and give it up, and usually in great detail. The problem was that I was usually the “most guilty”. I just didn’t like there to be any lingering consequences. I would rather face the punishment at the time and move on. Admirable quality, right? I mean aren’t we supposed to tell the truth? Friends and family actually valued my opinion because I gave them the truth, at least my perspective of the truth. I could have open and honest discussions with people. If I had an issue or disagreement with someone, I could go to them and tell them how I felt and listened to their concerns and we went back about our business.

As I got older and entered adulthood, I noticed that things didn’t seem to work the same way. Somehow the virtue of speaking the truth was not as celebrated as it was when I was younger?!? I must disclose that I sometimes tend to be a wee-bit harsh. To be honest the harshness comes from holding back the truth too long and the crack in my filter bursts and then it all spills out. When I worked at Skinner’s, there was a saying that everyone used “Truth over Harmony”. Everyone used it but only a few meant it! The senior leadership meant it, but not all of the middle management. People would ask a question and when they got the truth, they wanted the harmony part. Differences of opinion, disagreements and issues are going to arise in our lives. We are going to be asked our opinion on subjects and we owe it to them to give them the truth. If we water down, filter or sugar coat the truth too much, we are doing a huge disservice to that person. It is OK to disagree. It is OK to not like someone’s idea. It’s ok to let someone know that they aren’t doing a good job at something. We are supposed to love and respect each other. Respect them enough to tell them the truth and love them enough to do it appropriately! Have the conversation that needs to happen. They may not be happy at the moment, but it is far better to not have doubt or hostility hanging over the situation. Doubt, fear, hostility and awkwardness can be imprisoning! The truth will set you free.

God loved us enough to tell us the truth. He let us know that we are lying, self-centered, prideful sinners. We were imprisoned in our own filth. He sent his Son to save us. And that is THE TRUTH that we all have to tell!

John 3:16-21

per·spec·tive

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  \pər-ˈspek-tiv\   noun

   a :  the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed <places the issues in proper perspective>; also :  point of view

   b :  the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance <trying to maintain my perspective

Some of the things that I avoided when I was younger have turned out to be things that I celebrate and cherish now. One of those is diversity in people. I love being around people of different ages, backgrounds, races, upbringings, vocations, politics, nationalities and even religions.

All of us view life through different lenses. Our differences start with the fact that we are all unique, one of a kind, God created individuals. So this means not one of us sees anything through our “life lens” exactly the same way. No two lenses are the same from the beginning. Then we add a different layer or option to the lens for each uncontrollable variable in life; social, economic, environmental, geographic, genetic….etc. Life experience, either positive or negative, can polish or scratch our lens. We also have to include our choices in the mix. Some people want to see the world brightly so they may opt for the yellow tint, others choose a grey tint and yes I am sure a few will ask for an abstract pattern lens.

How can we expect anyone to view anything the same as we do? If we constantly allow our emotions to cause a division, then we will never be able to value perspectives different from ours. This is not to say that every perspective is correct. There is value in discussion and disagreement! We can have convictions, opinions and can even be completely correct on a subject but we also need to be open minded enough to hear another perspective. Growth happens through this type of interaction. I can still love and value people even when we don’t agree. Our recent culture tends prevent relationships from flourishing when perspective is misaligned.

Do yourself a favor and take the time to view the world through as many different lenses as possible. You don’t have to compromise your values and convictions, but it will give insight into how others view the world. Remember that there is a story behind every “lens”, stories of great joy, great struggle, heartbreak, triumph, ignorance and wisdom.

Revelation 7:9-17