Where You Stand Determines What You See

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Where you stand determines what you see. Taking it one step further, where you stand determines what you see and how you respond. Many people today do most of their seeing and responding on Facebook. But this is different. This is about being the person who sees as God sees and identifying with the people that He came to redeem, restore and heal. And once we see them, do we know their heart, hear their questions and respond to their struggles.  Where we stand may make us miss what God wants us to see.

Where you stand makes all the difference in the world. Your viewpoint and perspective changes significantly depending on where you are standing. From atop a skyscraper you can see for miles; but it’s not until you come down to street level do you get a completely different view. On the 100th floor observatory you see the city’s vastness – glass and steel super structures rise from the street giving unique views of the city. But walking at street level gives you a completely different perspective. You see a man in shabby clothes, braving the weather near a highway exit ramp, while holding a sign that says, “Hungry and Homeless. Please Help. God Bless You.”   

Where you stand, your proximity to others, will determine what you see. At a distance from people it is easy to overlook a single individual and even easier to overlook the pain in their eyes. How often do you get close enough to others that you can see who they are and what the needs of their life really are?  As you are standing and looking at your surroundings this week, I want to challenge you to see the people, see the needs, etc. that God has placed around you.

Where you stand determines what you see, but in the end it comes down to how you respond. If we want to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the world around us, we must act and do what the Bible says. We must see those who have needs and sacrifice our comfort, time, convenience, and even our resources. That is imitating Jesus and that is who we want to be.

So where you are standing and what do you see? Stop every once in a while and notice where you are standing. Where are you? Why are you there? 

Discussion questions:

1. Where do you stand today? Does where you stand enable you to see?
2. What can we do to respond to what we see?