Perception
“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”
Isaiah wrote, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). What Isaiah said then is just as true today. Many are looking for their own will to be validated rather than God’s. In doing so they do not perceive the hardships that they are bringing upon themselves through violence and stress. Perception matters.
The speed at which good is being replaced with evil in our culture is almost like a thief in the night. Everything seemed so “normal’’, and then suddenly this. Just one example – that of law enforcement – is sufficient to illustrate the cultural woe we are experiencing. Who would have believed that the police officers that have been counted on for so long to keep the peace would be defunded, as they are in many areas today? Did we perceive this change coming?
What we perceive depends on what we are looking for. Concerning persecution to come, Christ warned His disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues” (Matthew 10:16–17). He was warning them to be perceptive of the intentions of others, as some would be as dangerous as wolves. The reference here pertains to their physical well-being, though they had to be spiritually perceptive of what danger might be in the hearts of others around them. This constitutes very important perception.
Speaking to His disciples, Christ references the most important perception of all. “Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness” (Luke 11:35). Do we properly perceive ourselves? Is the light that began in us at baptism still there and growing brighter? Or is it dimming? What we see depends mainly on what we are looking for. Does what we are looking for come down to the validation of our own will and image or to what God perceives in us?
Godly perception of others is impossible if we are not fully perceptive of ourselves first. “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:4–5). What we perceive about ourselves or others, depends entirely on what we are first looking for in ourselves.
Marshall Stiver
