HOW DO YOU SEE IT?

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

Proverbs 29:13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Spend enough time talking to people about life, particularly about events and occurrences in the world around us, and you’ll quickly discover that everyone has a viewpoint on matters and those viewpoints are not always in agreement. These viewpoints are shaped by any number of things such as our political affiliations, level of education, religious beliefs, or views of an organization we are associated with. You may even find gender, race, and age as factors in the way we look at things. One’s own personality and demeanor can even impact the way we look at things (i.e. optimists see the glass half full, pessimists see it half empty).

As we deal with this matter of perspective, we often find it is hard to find common ground on matter, a problem that often keeps nations, and often churches, fractured and divided. So how can we combat this problem and get people to be on the same page, like-minded in a way that promotes unity and progress vice dissension and regression?

Perhaps the answer can be found within today’s verse from Proverbs, Chapter 29:

The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both. Proverbs 29:13

Consider the poor person’s viewpoint against the view of the oppressor.

The poor person sees the oppressor as one who has no interest in helping them, only using them to their own gain. The poor person sees themselves as unable to fend for themselves, captured and trapped in their impoverished existence. They hold a hatred for the oppressor and hope for a day when they will be set free from their underprivileged life and find their way to a brighter future, one where they will never have to worry about their needs being met.

Conversely, the oppressor sees nothing wrong with having a cadre of poor people at their disposal. That’s just the way of life. Some are fortunate to have power and wealth, some are not. And part of the benefit of having that power and wealth is to be able to have people under you, people who you can use to the benefit of you and your organization. The oppressor doesn’t see themselves in a bad light. After all, they make sure the poor have what they need to live, even if it’s not plentiful. They would argue that the poor actually would have it worse off if they were off on their own somewhere.

Two people connected in life. Two very different sociological conditions and therefore, two very different views on the world they live in.

 And yet, both have a very common denominator and He is the Lord.

For no matter what variety of viewpoints the world offers us to follow, none of them matter when it comes right down to it. For only the Lord’s perspective counts and we all have the opportunity to see things His way.

We know this because the word of God from Proverbs for today tells us. The Lord has granted sight to everyone, no matter what their condition or life situation. And this sight isn’t just the ability to look at things physiologically, it’s the ability to allow Him to form our viewpoints from His perspective.

If the oppressor looked at the world through the sight the Lord had given, the situation would be markedly different. Actually, the oppressor would do what they had to do to get rid of the label “oppressor” because the Lord would guide them to care for those in need with compassion and caring and provision. They would not be able to see themselves as more superior to the poor but seek to see them as their brothers and sisters, part of the family of God. And within the family of God, people are to love one another.  

Can you see where this is a world and life changer if we take this to heart and see the world through the sight the Lord has given us, His sight which dramatically changes the way we view the world and those created by God to dwell within it?

So how do you see things?

Do you look at things through the lens of the world and its attitudes?

Or do you see with the vision of the Lord, a vision that always leads us to look at things with a sense of righteousness and holiness?

In the end translation, the Lord grants us all sight. We only need to use it to His glory.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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