Matter of Perspective

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It’s a matter of perception. Is the glass half full or half empty? Sometimes, all that is needed is a paradigm shift (pronounced “pair-a-dime”, not “pair-a-digum, just to be clear).

In order to see our lives clearly, we need a bird’s-eye-view, but we’re stuck below, looking at life from the perspective of the worm. I think St. Louis de Montfort would greatly appreciate that analogy.

Isaiah challenges us with a very direct question from the Lord:

See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

“Don’t you not perceive it?” Don’t you get it? Don’t you see what’s happening? My honest answer to this line of questioning is “No.” I don’t get it and I don’t see what the Lord is doing. I am often confused and distressed because of this very fact. I desperately want to see what is going on and to understand what is happening, but I always seem to be one step behind.

But, as I said before, it’s all a matter of perspective. When I heard those words from Isaiah, I realized that I don’t see what’s happening because I don’t see what God sees. My vision is short-sighted, but He’s looking at the long game. I can only see what is right in front of my face, but God can see the whole picture. His ways are not our ways. His sight is not our sight. Out of pride, we tend to think that we know what’s best. We think that because we are in the moment, we have the best perspective. People often say that hindsight always brings enlightenment, but think about how clear your view would be if you could see every moment:, past, present and future, all in at once. Now that would be a lot better than 20/20 vision. Don’t you agree?

Until we get to Heaven, we are never going to be able to see what God sees. That might seem like bad news, but there is some light at the end of this dark tunnel. God sees it all clearly right now, and on top of that, He wants to provide for everything that we might need. Basically, He’s going to do the grunt work and we just need to cooperate and go along for the ride.

Now, you’re right in thinking it’s not quite that simple in the end, but we do tend to complicate life more so than necessary. Think of it more like this…

Here’s the situation: The Lord is doing something new in each of our lives and most of us have no idea what exactly His plan looks like.

Here are our options: One, we can run around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying frantically to figure out what’s going on; or two, we can swallow our pride, submit to the Will of God, and let Him show us what He has planned.

As fun as the first option may sound, I can assure you that running around in circles is exhausting (not to mention getting your head cut off sounds very painful). The second option is, I believe, the most satisfying. What we need to do (I’m including myself here) is to ask the Lord to give us His vision. Let us pray together for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Who will show us the grandness of the new life God has planned for us, His beloved children.

May God be praised!

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  • Noel Fitzpatrick

    God’s ways are not our ways.

    This article is interesting and raises a serious issue. Is God’s will obeyed? Does God get what he wants? Does God want all of us to get to heaven or does he not
    care? If anyone goes to hell, either God was not able to prevent that or did not care.

    This is a huge problem. If some of us get to heaven will we understand
    why others ended up suffering for all time? If anyone goes to hell it can seem
    God is not good, or is not powerful.

    I have considered this problem, and discussed it with many learned
    and saintly people.

    Basically we cannot understand God.