Perspectives

A few weeks ago, God had been speaking to me about perspectives and perceptions through short clips, a musical, entertainment news, sermons, and articles! Do you know what you are looking at in the photo above? Let’s see if you’re right at the end of the post. 😉

Perspective is a point of view formed through our experience, beliefs and values. Then there’s perception. According to this article, perception is how we understand the moment, while perspective is our long-term worldview and framework for processing that understanding. In other words, our perspective (point of view) affects our perception (understanding) of something.

I came across this short clip about a lady getting frustrated at this weird man taking her cookies to eat—neither did he ask for permission nor thank her. She didn’t confront him but was visibly upset. Then she boarded her bus and realised her bag of cookies was in her bag all along! She became the weird and rude one. Shortly after I watched this clip, a pastor narrated the same scenario—God, I hear you!

Then, I was hesitant to watch the musical ‘Wicked’ because, from my perspective, it would be a dark topic about a wicked witch. I went anyway because my husband wanted to watch. I had judged it based on the external factors of the protagonist, Elphaba – her skin colour, outfit and the name “Wicked”. The truth was, the real antagonists had started a smear campaign against Elphaba to discredit her accusations against them. The public’s perception was distorted because they didn’t have the full perspective of things. Case in point, the public adored Glinda the Good Witch as the spokesperson for the Wizard of Oz, but the truth was, she’s not a total saint with her selfish ambitions, and Elphaba might even be more kind-hearted than her.

As I watched the play in the theatre, I thought of Kim Soo Hyun – a trending topic at that time when I watched the play. He was a top Korean actor with damning accusations. Because of them, his public persona was shattered to reveal a glimpse of what might be hidden behind the mask – a totally different person. As the scandal played out, I thought of the exposés of celebrities and pastors that happened in recent months or years — for example, the burning sun and Taiwan’s # MeToo scandals.

Entertainment companies, and now influencers, have long been distorting and portraying people for what the audience’s itching eyes want to see. Instead of letting celebrities present their true selves and live up to their God-given potential, money dictates the direction. The love of money is the root of all evil. I believe God is going deeper to dig out more perversion and abhorrent sin from darker places.

I expected people to be righteous, especially Christians and Christian leaders. However, I am also learning to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16) – to take public personas with a pinch of salt, and not judge people at face value. My perspective does not always capture the full picture.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 7:15-16A

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Matthew 24:24 (NKJV)

Even though my perspective is eclipsed with bias and limitations, I know that through prayers and His Word, I can look through His lens to have a better perception (understanding) and revelation of things. And to see through masks and fog and see the truth. God’s perspective captures the full picture along with the full timeline.

Having His perspective, gives us more hope and grace towards others and even ourselves. In this world of chaos, it’s easy for me to lament my half-empty glass. Thanksgiving changes my perspective to see that I still have half a cup of water to drink.

Perspective changes our attitude to life. If our perspective is negative, our life will always be painted in grey. But if our perspective is eternal, from a biblical point of view, it’s always at peace. Eternal perspective makes whatever frustration we go through now smaller. Like how a failed primary 1 spelling test is big at that moment, but effectively affects only a drop in the grand scheme of our lives.

Remember the photo at the start of this post?

Zoom it out and you will see that the lens is part of the many magnifying glasses, magnifying miniature flowers. The particular one I zoomed into is white orchids seen at the corner of the lens. Giving you a wider perspective, these magnifying glasses were found at the Cloud Forest of Gardens by the Bay.

We tend to zoom into our problems and make them giants, but God has a better zoomed-out view of our lives. Do you think your perspective in life is aligned with God’s?

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)

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