Retired and set in her ways, my friend is a creature of
habit, frequenting the same grocery stores, the same exercise route, and the
same approach to each day in a familiar, mimeograph sort of way.
And so I’d missed proximity to beauty. Sure, I knew a lovely park sprawled, blocks
away from her city home. We’d walked
there multiple times, inhaling the fresh scent of eucalyptus, crunching needles
beneath our feet, strolling through a luxuriant rose garden. But always we took the same route—or a
variation of it. And yet, how long this
park stretches eluded me until I recently explored its acres of territory,
which extend far across the heavily populated city where she lives.
Beyond trash-strewn city sidewalks and foul-smelling subway
stations, a haven of beauty beckons. Here,
flowers of multiple varieties and shrubs of various hues accentuate the fingerprint
of God’s handiwork. Breath-taking
displays of manicured flora and fauna highlight man’s work upon God’s planet,
as individuals exercise dominion and stewardship over this corner of earth.
But until recently, I never realized my friend’s precise
proximity to recognizable landmarks like the Bay Bridge. I didn’t see just how her home fit into the
giant jigsaw puzzle of her huge metropolis.
Because I hadn’t climbed high enough on a clear enough day, I didn’t
know just how far one could view the grand ocean that diminished to ever-graying
blue and stretched for unseen thousands of miles into the distance.
But when I trekked up several flights of stairs and even
higher, I saw. That vantage point provided
a view of an overwhelming patchwork of beauty that surpassed my ground-level
perspective, that put all into its proper view.
And as I sat atop the mountain, taking in the now miniscule
townscape before me, Psalm 18:2 came floating to my
brain—“The LORD is my . . . high tower.”
The Lord, my High Tower, provides
a vantage point that stands distant from the mundane existence of life. My High Tower uses His true and
living Word, which is “forever settled in Heaven” to shape my perspective as I
enter into His presence, away from the secular realm of this universe. By His
every word we are to live, and when we get up into Him, through His eternal
Book, we understand His heartthrob. We
realize what’s actually significant. And
He provides perspective—that our tiny, individual lives are only part of a
bigger picture.
A picture that reflects all that He is.
His sovereignty.
His perfection.
His goodness.
In fact, our lives exist as particular parts of His perfect plan.
It doesn’t always appear that way
to us. In fact, it often seems that
something’s off. Something’s wrong. Something’s gone awry.
But that’s not because of Him.
Too often, we bypass His perspective for our own. We might choose to do a Google search on
a topic before we complete a topical study on that same issue in God’s Word. Instead of
praying about problems, we might rather just talk about them, making God's Source Book a last resort. Instead of getting to the heart of an issue,
we might rather avoid the discomfort of confrontation or people who point us to Scripture truth. In these ways and more, we can choose to walk by what we see (our own feelings)
rather than believe what we can’t see (faith in God’s perspective).
It’s tragic, actually--this lack of perspective that makes us trust
our own vision instead of God's perfect Word.
It seems to me that the discrepancy between faith and feelings lies at
the heart of most battles.
Paul lamented to the Galatians, “I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel” (Gal. 1:6). In Ephesians, he explains that the
believers need not be, like children, so easily tossed from one “wind of
doctrine” to another (Eph. 4:14). In
both passages, Paul illustrates a common human tendency—to easily remove
ourselves from God’s way to our own way.
It’s a childish thing. But it’s a dangerous thing. Another Gospel means another Jesus, which
means no salvation (Acts 4:12). Another
doctrine means a lack of truth, which means no actual worship, since God must
be worshiped in both spirit and truth (John 4:24).
The question at the end of the day
remains, Will we trust God’s Word implicitly or will we rely—even just a tiny bit—upon our feelings, our own way, our own understanding?
Let us ascend into our High Tower
this day. Multiple times, we can acquire His
perspective and view the world with His wisdom!
Monday I finished reading Broad is the Way by Dr. David
Sorenson. This preacher commends the
habit of reading through the Scripture seven times a year. His method is nine chapters in the morning,
nine chapters after noon, and nine chapters in the evening. In reading about 27 chapters each day for several decades of his ministry, he has been able to see
life from God’s perspective. Understanding it is only God’s grace that has
caused him not to move from his doctrinal and practical positions for decades,
he also realizes that this habit of Bible reading has greatly shaped his view of life.
Another book I recently started is called For Instruction in Righteousness. In her introduction, Author Pam
Forster refers to herself as “just a
mother," saying, “I am not a Bible
scholar; I am just a believer, studying the Bible as the guidebook for my
life.” And yet, as a seeking believer, she has compiled a book of
topically arranged Bible verses specifically geared toward child rearing from a biblical perspective.
She says, “We must turn back to the Bible, the source of all
wisdom. In it we will find all that we
need to know to be godly fathers and mothers.”
Pam and her husband realize that God’s perspective must control their actions if they are to raise their family God’s way.
They have put together this resource that others, too, might have a help in seeking to make “God’s Word ...
the center of all...training.”
Fellow believer, let us likewise make God’s Word our
Portion multiple times throughout the day, using it as our sole authority
for faith and practice. In so doing, we
can live by the perspective our High Tower offers us.
From His eternal Word.
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