Dear Friends,
I have been fascinated through the last months that perspective seems to weigh-in heavy. How we see things as individuals guides how we act or react. In these times where we are isolated and alone, our perspective of ourselves and the world around us can be clouded by opinions; by news; by our own emotions; or a nervous system that is attacked and running in a manner that defies gravity. However, tonight as I was reading Numbers 23, I caught something very fundamental - especially in these times.
Balak asked Balaam twice to see Israel from another perspective. Balak so desperately wanted Balaam to curse Israel, thinking if he was able to shift his eyes ever so slightly, God's perspective of Israel would alter and Balaam would FINALLY curse them. I was struck deeply. In these days what is critical and pivotal is to recognize who I am in Christ. But, you see, many nights I wake up at 3 a.m. with tears because, through all this crap, the enemy tries to turn my perspective to see all that I am not. And as a result I can lay there and curse myself and shame myself and, by the time I’m done, I’ve somewhat cursed what God loves. All because the enemy so masterfully shifted my eyes and offered a perspective opposite of God.
Today I went to therapy (yep, folks I see a therapist) and she told me that isolation is the battlefield of the mind. Tonight, in reading, I realized why. It makes us vulnerable to a million things that are not God; voices screaming at us, "for heavens sake change your perspective and see how yuck you really are." I’m grateful that God is unchanging, regardless of how the enemy even might present us to Him. God says, "this is my child who is loved and lovable and I will never ever see her otherwise."
Maybe none of you are experiencing this; but for me it is real and tangible, and a fight like none other. I love that God loves me from every perspective!
Love,
Cari