The arguing had to stop and a decision had to be made. A family situation with my father’s health had put my sister and I at odds. In many ways this wasn’t new. We’ve been arguing with each other about different things since we were little girls. At least this is the way I saw it.
I’ve never liked conflict and yet the more I tried to avoid it, the more it found me. My sister, on the other hand, seemed to thrive on it. I’ve always watched her dive into situations with a fierceness that sent me running the other way. But my father’s dementia and the new perspective that God was showing me made me appreciate my sister’s personality in an entirely new way.
That word, perspective, is exactly what I needed. I looked it up in the dictionary recently. The meaning jumped out at me. “The capacity to view things in their new relations or relative importance.”
I needed to pause and consider my view and my sister’s. We saw things differently and I needed to take time to consider her viewpoint and try to communicate mine to her. How many times have you found yourself in a similar situation? The Bible is full of stories about humankind not seeing the full picture or assuming things were one way and finding out later that they had misinterpreted the situation. The enemy loves to twist words and perspectives so that we will believe something that isn’t true. This can certainly lead us into situations we never intended or should not have been.
We find such a story in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve were manipulated by the enemy to have a different perspective regarding God’s warning.
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:2-5
It didn’t take much for Eve to hear the serpent’s words and believe that version over God’s. He placed just enough doubt in her mind for her to go her own way.
Every day, we are presented with opportunities just like this to make choices. Sometimes it is our own limited perspective that gets in our way. At other times, it may be someone else’s perspective that is clouding our judgement. God gives us the right perspective in Colossians 3:2 where we are told to “set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
In the midst of our family situation, I prayed. God help me to see the right way, your way and help my sister and I come to an understanding that we both can accept. God answered that prayer. We were able to calmly discuss and determine our next steps knowing that God was clearly helping us. In fact, my sister became my hero. She navigated a very difficult situation with the fierceness that was necessary in that moment. She utilized her beautiful super powers that we needed and I used mine. Praise God that we lived into the exact design for which he created us.
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