Your Perspective Changes Your Perception
The Beach
A few weeks ago my family got to go on a quick vacation to the beach. Whenever we get a chance, we love getting away to Gulf Shores, AL. It’s our favorite place to go for vacation.
Part of the reason I love going to the beach so much is because I love going to the ocean. Any of you love the ocean? There’s something about the ocean that always makes me feel close to God.
For one, it’s huge. It amazes me that I can see the ocean but I can’t see the ocean. What I mean is that I can look at it, but I can’t look at all of it. It’s too huge!
They say that the largest ocean, the Pacific Ocean, at its widest point is larger than the moon! Just think about that! At its deepest point in the Mariana Trench lies the Challenger Deep which is more than 36,000 feet below sea level! That’s 7 miles deep!
If you were somehow able to go to the bottom of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, the pressure would crush you!
The ocean is too big to see all at once, it’s too deep to to dive its depth, and it’s too powerful to tame.
I remember a few years ago I was in the ocean enjoying the waves and just for a moment, I took my eyes off the ocean. I was looking at the beach trying to see where everyone was when all of a sudden, a huge wave hit me from behind.
I went under water. The under toe was so strong that it pulled me down and under and I hit the ocean floor hard. I was finally able to come up for air and when I did I thought, “I think I just got body slammed by God!”
I think this is why the ocean reminds me of God. It’s so big, so deep, so wide, so powerful…
When you see how big the ocean is you begin to realize just how small you are and when you do,
Your perspective changes your perception.
The Psalmist says,
“But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore— the Lord above is mightier than these!”
Psalm 93:4
Your perspective changes your perception.
The Grand Canyon
A few years ago I got to go to the Gand Canyon.
Did you know the Grand Canyon is bigger than the state of Rhode Island? The Grand Canyon is a mile deep, 277 miles long, and 18 miles wide. While I was there I got to hike part of it.
The Grand Canyon is kind of like the ocean. Even when you see it you can’t see it, not all of it!
The North Rim and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon are only 10 miles apart as the crow flies but if you wanted to visit the North Rim and the South Rim on the same day it would mean you would have to cross the Colorado River traveling some 215 miles through the park which would take you about 5 hours!
That’s how huge the Grand Canyon is!
Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, just trying to comprehend how long it took for the Grand Canyon to become the Grand Canyon… it’s almost impossible to comprehend. I don’t know if it happened over 6 million years or if God just decided to drag his pinkie through the sand during creation.
I don’t know how it happened. But standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon you feel pretty small in comparison to the majesty of it all.
The Grand Canyon is so big NASA has taken pictures of it from outer space!
When you see how big the Grand Canyon is you begin to realize just how small you are and when you do,
Your perspective changes your perception.
Scripture says,
“For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too.”
Psalm 95:3-5
Your perspective changes your perception.
Outer Space
I’ve NEVER been to outer space. At least, not yet! Maybe one day I’ll get to go up and see what it’s like. But you’ve seen pictures like this.
This is a picture of Earth from the Moon.
Imagine you’re standing on the Moon looking at Earth.
The Moon is about 240,000 miles away from Earth. Can you see your house? The street you live on? Can you see anyone you know?
Imagine if you were standing on the Sun! You can’t, by the way. If you did you would be instantly consumed. The temperature on the Sun us something like 27 million degrees Fahrenheit at its core. But if you could you would be 94 million miles from Earth. Which sounds far away. And it is. But you’re still in our little corner of the universe in our solar system.
Our solar system is a part of the Milky Way which is beautiful by the way. But it’s only one of an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Which I think is the scientific way of saying, we have no idea how many galaxies are in the universe!
Anyone feeling small yet?
When you see how big the Universe is you begin to realize just how small you are and when you do,
Your perspective changes your perception.
The prophet Isaiah writes,
“Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”
Isaiah 40:26
Your perspective changes your perception.
A Perspective Problem
For many of us our perception is reality but we have a perception problem because we have a perspective problem and so our experience of our present reality is negatively affected.
If we could change our perspective it might change our perception of our present reality.
This has been a problem for people from the beginning of time. This was the problem Israel faced as they were leaving Egypt.
The Exodus
They had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years. (Exodus 12.40). They cried out to God and God heard their cries. He sent Moses to the Pharaoh in Egypt to ask him to let the people of Israel go free. Pharaoh declined.
You may know the story of the 10 plagues that fell upon Egypt and you may wonder, how could a loving God do that? From sending frogs and flies to turning a river into blood? It was horrible and people suffered.
But at every turn, in fact… before the very first turn, before the first plague, God gave Pharaoh a choice. God’s love and the opportunity to choose the way of God always comes before the judgement of God.
Pharaoh thought he was the most powerful lord in the universe so he told Moses, “No.” And one by one, plagues fell upon Egypt until finally… Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Take the Israelites and leave!”
But after they left, Pharaoh almost immediately regretted that decision. His entire work force had just left the country! Who was going to build his empire? Who would do the manual labor required? The entire economy was built on the backs of slave labor provided by the nation of Israel and now, they are GONE!
So Pharaoh commands his army to go after the Israelites. Chariots and horses mount up and the sound of these soldiers is all to familiar to the Israelites. When they see them coming, when they hear them getting close, they are filled with FEAR!
Filled With Fear by Something they thought they were Free From
Here’s what happened…
Exodus 14.10-14
As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
What was the problem? They had a perspective problem!
They were focused on their fear instead of their God. They were more focused on the size of their enemy, their worry, than they were on the size of their God who had just miraculously delivered them from 430 years of slavery.
God had literally answered their prayers and had done for them what only God could do for them. They now have the opportunity as a nation to be free, to live their lives as a testimony to the goodness of God, the deliverance of God, and the power of of God.
But as soon as what once oppressed them comes around the corner they are filled with fear once again.
Can anyone relate to that?
Have you ever been filled with fear by something you thought you were free from?
At this point, all they can see is the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. They are literally between a rock and a hard place. There’s no escape. From their perspective, they are as good as dead.
What they thought they needed was to surrender to Pharaoh and return to slavery in Egypt.
What they really needed was to surrender to God and enter into His freedom and provision.
What they needed was to change their perspective.
A Different Perspective
Moses said…
But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
For many of us our perception is reality but we have a perception problem because we have a perspective problem and so our experience of our present reality is negatively affected.
Moses says, let me change your perspective. The Lord, the same God who just miraculously delivered you from 430 years of slavery in Egypt, He will fight for you. The same God who saved you before will save you again.
If you can remember God’s faithfulness in the past it will give you hope and confidence in the present.
What do you need to do? Stay calm.
What’s the battle plan when you’re afraid? Stay calm.
What if everyone around you is worried and telling you all the bad things that are going to happen? Stay calm.
What if important people, people who have influence and power of their own, what if they say that things are terrible and everything is falling apart? Stay calm.
What if I can’t see a way out, a way forward? What if everything really is falling apart? Stay calm.
The Lord Will Fight For You
Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.
Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!
Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.” So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.
But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
– Exodus 14.19-31
Fear Can’t Swim
Here’s the good news for you today, FEAR CAN’T SWIM.
Whatever you’re afraid of, it can’t swim. And when God delivers you through the water whatever you’re afraid of that comes chasing after you will drown in the river of God’s grace.
Whenever your perception is reality but you have a perception problem because you have a perspective problem and so your experience of your present reality is negatively affected, what you need to do is change your perspective.
If you could see that the same God who created the ocean created you and knows you by name, he knows how many hairs are on your head and he cares for you… If you could see from that perspective it might change your perception of your present reality.
If you could see that the same God who created the Grand Canyon and stretched the Colorado river through it creating majestic views over 277 miles long, that same God created you.
And you, by the way, are more majestic than the Grand Canyon! If you could see your life, your circumstances, from that perspective it might change your perception of your present reality.
If you could see that the same God who breathed stars into existence, the same God who said let there be light and the Sun appeared, the same God who created the Milky Way and every galaxy in the universe, He also created you.
In fact you are His crowning achievement. You are the one He so desperately wants to be in relationship and unhindered fellowship with. It’s you.
Egyptians Coming After You?
And I know, you’ve got some Egyptians breathing down your neck.
Maybe it’s addiction. Maybe it’s illness. Maybe it’s financial trouble. Maybe it’s loneliness. Maybe it’s sin. Maybe problems in your family. I don’t know what Egyptians are coming after you but I know the same God who defeated them before can and will defeat them again!
What do you need to do?
Stay calm.
Let God fight for you.
Put your hope, your faith, in Him.
And when God does for you what only God can do for you, you know what you should do? The same thing Israel did that day when they saw God defeat their enemy.
Deliverance Leads to Worship
Here’s what happened next…
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
This is my God, and I will praise him—
my father’s God, and I will exalt him!
“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord—
glorious in holiness,
awesome in splendor,
performing great wonders?
The Lord will reign forever and ever!”
They worshiped!
They sang a song similar to a song we often sing…
How great is our God!
Sing with me, How great is our God!
And all will see How great, how great, is our God!
Your perspective changes your perception of your present reality. And here’s the good news…
Your fear, no matter how great it is, is not greater than our God!
When you sing about the greatness of God you declare your dependance on Him.
And when you sing of His faithfulness you remember His power, His promise, and that your fear, no matter how great it seems, is not greater than our God.
God’s Not Worried
You see, there is One who is SEATED on the throne. He is the LORD Almighty. And He is not worried.
He’s not pacing the streets of heaven. He’s not stressed out about how things are going. There’s no anxiety present in the throne room of heaven.
He’s seated on the throne.
And the One who is seated on the throne of all thrones, the One who is seated as the King of all kings and the Lord of a lords is the King of Glory. And He is FOR YOU. He is WITH YOU.
And He will DELIVER YOU.
What do you need to do?
Stay calm.
Trust Him. Believe in Him. And when God does for you what only God can do for you, respond in worship.
When we worship we declare our dependance on the King of kings. As we do we shift our perspective and it changes our perception of our present reality.
No matter how big the enemy is behind us, the enemy can’t swim! And by faith we follow the presence of God across the river bed on dry ground to the other side! And as our fear is swallowed up in victory we sing, How great, How great is our God!
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