Seeing As Heaven Sees

I sighed. We were in church, praise and worship was set to begin, and instead of being joyful at lavishing worship on our King, all I could think of was a particular person in church I found fault with. Like a kindergartener who tattles on a classmate, I went to Lord with my list of complaints against this person and their behavior and began ticking them off.

Praise and worship started and I trailed off in my conversation with the Lord about this person. In my mind, my concerns were serious, but everyone was singing now, so I halfheartedly sang, “You’re a good, good Father…”

Before we got to the next stanza, a crying baby interrupted my thoughts. I looked around, but could not see anyone holding a baby.

I limply clapped my hands as we moved into the next verse. The things this person had done to others was captivating me more than the Presence of the Lord. The crying baby screamed loudly. I jerked to my left, where the door to the nursery hallway was. Perhaps it was open and needed closing.

As I found a path through the upraised hands of worshippers to see the door clearly, I was surprised to see that door was firmly closed. And yet, the baby’s cries were piercing and incessant.

The Holy Spirit arrested me. I asked Him, “Lord, what is happening here?”

The precious Voice of His that I love so much replied, “That is what the old man’s voice sounds like to Me: a crying, angry baby.”

“But Lord,” I whispered back, “that crying does not even make any sense - there is no understanding it.”

I sensed a smile from Him. “You said it, I didn’t, but that is right. When the old man is talking, it is a language of whines, baby cries, and fault finding. Now, can you speak to Me in a language that makes sense?”

Of course! I was looking through the lens of the old man at this situation and the old lens moved me out of a place of intimacy with the Lord. I shifted that lens right then and there.

In leadership, it is vital to keep the correct lens on and keep it clean.

Graham Cooke says, A lens either blocks light or it bends the light... Our lenses, our assumptions, our way of seeing the world, shape the way we interpret the Bible and how we relate to God and people in this world. When you see your lens, you can begin to evaluate them in a conscious manner – what is your witness in the Spirit? Does your lens need to be cleansed? Has your spiritual encounter with God exceeded your traditional lens? How many of us have said, “That is me, right there! My recent encounters with God have exceeded my traditional lens.

…Here is the deal. You cannot get it if you do not see it. Unless your lens changes, you will not do it. If you cannot see it, you will not say it. You will not think it. You will not do it.

Acts 9:17- 18: So Ananias left and entered the house, and he laid hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came to Damascus, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to proclaim Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eye, and he regained his sight…