How's the View from Where You Are?

I am currently seated in the ground floor of a local landmark. Above me towers 226 feet (69 meters) of vertical space. The only accessible areas are at the ground floor and the very top. Everything else in between – hundreds of cubic feet of concrete and steel – serve to lift the tower and the visitors to that uppermost access point. This whole place serves one purpose: an elevated viewpoint.

You see, the top floor is not steel and concrete. It is glass. North, South, East, and West are unobstructed views for miles. On clear days, you can see 35 miles, multiple counties, and a host of geographical features. It’s a very different view from the ground floor where all is enclosed and immediate. Even when you are outdoors on the property, your view is restricted to neighboring businesses and a highway.

Decades ago, someone realized that getting higher up changed your understanding and appreciation of the area so drastically that it was worth great investment to build a singularly-purposed structure to achieve it.

The Lord tells us that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His view and understanding is exponentially greater than our own. The purpose for His plan is clearer from where He sits and His understanding of the outcome is as plain to see as the highway junctions are from this tower.

Oh, how we need to get some perspective. We, from our ground-floor vantage point refuse to travel the road because we can’t see where it goes. We argue that it’s nothing but business after business, unchanging scenery and predictably futile effort while He sees that if we’d only set out, we’d find ourselves encountering refreshing lakes and rivers, dense oak hammocks, exciting bustling cities full of connections and opportunities… ultimately a vast ocean that spans from horizon to horizon with His love.

But how? How do we gain a higher spiritual perspective? We can’t push an elevator button and get there.

Here’s the mind-bogglingly beautiful part: we ask. It is His desire to lift us up to where we can see from His view. He wants to give us glimpses. When He does, and we act on those glimpses in trust, we find ourselves in a position to receive more and more of His vantage point until we cease to question it.

What do those glimpses look like? They look like understanding a passage of Scripture more clearly than before - and then applying it to a life situation. They look like seeing another person momentarily as more than the annoyance they have been to you; recognizing them as the loved child that God sees needs encouragement – and then encouraging them. They look like not knowing what to do, praying, and having the quiet but clear voice of God give you an answer – and when you act on it, it moves you forward.

Experience eventually teaches us that His view is richer, more vibrant, farther, and more varied than we could ever imagine. Long experience brings us to a place where we trust His view so completely that ours can be completely fogged in… and still we will walk forward at His direction.
​
Lord, lift our eyes to You. We know that we still see dimly, as though through cloudy glass, but to the extent that we can grasp, we ask you to give us Your viewpoint of our world, the people we encounter, and the road we are to travel. Grow our faith as we obey what you show us. Cause us to marvel at the beauty and grandeur of Your plans.