"A Filtered Life"

A filter is recognized as a device that removes impurities, particles or unwanted materials from something.  It is also a function used to alter the overall appearance of an image in a specific manner.   In today’s world, filters are great!  We love the fun we can have with them, the things we can eliminate with them and the overall changes that they can make in our lives.   We have found that some filters don’t just take away, they can also add things.  They can correct or add color, put a frame around you image, they can even add a face on top of your face.  Filters can be fun, but they can also be deceptive.

ROSE COLORED FILTERS

Without thinking about it, we can have filters on our eyes, on our ears and even in what we speak.  Our life and how we have been raised, how we think and what we believe are all filters that we view life through.  They are always in use even when we are unaware because they are such a part of us.  Because we don’t realize we have them on, we assume what we are seeing is always accurate or true.  That is where filters deceive us.  Not every man cheats, not every woman wants you for your money, not every person of color is criminal, not every Caucasian is racist.  Some things we think and feel because of where we came from, what we have experienced, and what we believe.  We all have filters. Because of these filters, we tend to treat people certain ways- but what if what we see is only part of the story? 

"For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."   

1 Corinthians 13:9 -12

OPEN TO ANOTHER LENS

The bible clearly reminds us that we only see in part, we understand in part often the part that we see and the part that we understand is not really God’s view.  As honest and open as we are, we will never understand everything that happens in life.  Difficulties with people, break ups in relationships, finances that do not measure up to what we know God has said is for us.  But if we can simply remember, God has got this in control!  No matter how uncontrolled it looks, the only way we can truly mess up His plan is to not trust Him and take it on ourselves to make it happen. People have never been our source, we are told not to lean on the arm of flesh.  The government is not reliable, and systems change.  The only thing we can do when things are not acting right, is to trust God.  Trust that He sees ALL OF THIS!  He knows ALL OF THIS!   And He promised to WORK ALL OF IT together for your good and His glory!   If we can’t get any other view, any moment of reassurance other than that, we are still good. 

NEW SIGHT

The question then is HOW?  How do I ignore what I see and trust God?  The first answer is don’t ignore what you see, just don't be moved by it!  Understand  that what you see, all of your filters are not always misleading you, they just show you how you will need to rely on God.  If what you see is people who are not honest in business, then what does that tell you?  Perhaps praying about who to work with, and understanding that you will need to work closely with them so that you are not taken advantage of. It doesn't mean go it alone because no one can be trusted with what God has given you, they may still be a gift - even with flaws.  

If you have things about yourself that you see and don’t like, don’t deny it work on what you can adjust, but understand the balance.  Everything- everyone God made is good!  How can we tell the one who made us that He messed up?  His lens says you are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made”!  

When you see people who do not seem like they are going anywhere in life, if they seem like a waste of space…. Remember- who’s lens are you looking through?  Obviously not God’s.  When we learn to YIELD our lens to His LENS, we will be able to deal with the things and people we see from day to day.  His lens tells us how to pray and what to pray for, so if anything you see today does not look like what God said it is supposed to look like, that is an area for prayer for you.  The fact that you see and recognize that something does not line up means you are gifted and called on to pray for it!  

We have been given power to not run away from things we see that bother us, but we are called to help change them through prayer.