Point of View

I heard a news story a few years ago about a particular forest in Germany.  It seems that during the early days of the Nazi Party, someone planted trees in the shape of their swastika symbol.  As these trees were planted in among other trees, they were largely unnoticed.  However, during a few weeks in autumn when the leaves change color, the symbol is very visible from the air.  This grove existed for decades after the end of World War II.  And while the enough trees have since been cut down to remove the symbol, the point is this; on the ground the grove looked very different than it did in the air.  It is one of many things that can be very different depending on how you look at it.  (Note:  I don't want to put a picture on the blog, but you can see the Wikipedia article here.)

It's amazing how differently people can see the same issue.  Depending on our political leanings or our profession or our closeness to the situation, we may have a vastly different interpretation of events than someone else.  

Take the recent news story about the child who fell into the Gorilla cage in Ohio.  There are very strong opinions about the handling of the situation.  Some people think that the animal handlers at the zoo did what they had to do.  Others think that they acted too hastily and more could have been done to save the animal.  Which side of the situation you identify with really depends on you.  What is your life history with children or parenting or animal rights.  And people from one point of view have a hard time seeing the other.

For every issue, how it affects us depends on how the perspective that we bring.

This is especially true in our walk with  God.  The relationship that we expect depends a lot on how we see God.  If we see God as judgmental and ready to condemn, then we have a relationship that is based on the fear of that retribution.

However, if we see God as the God of sacrifice, then we see God giving his all for our redemption.  We see God giving his best to build a relationship with us.  And then we expect nothing less from ourselves than giving God our best in return.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

How we see God affects the relationship that we have from God.  Jesus Christ went to the cross to sacrifice himself, so that our redemption could be achieved.  And that perspective brings a much more comforting vision of the God we serve,