Different people see God differently. Some picture Him as a supreme but distant Being/force, somewhere in the Heavens. Others think He is a fable best told to little children. To some other people, He is a person, very real to them and involved in their daily affairs. Yet still, some perceive Him as real, but scary and full of wrath to be poured on sinful men.
The way we perceive God will affect how we relate with Him, and what we expect, and get from Him. So if our perception of Him is wrong, we are likely to position ourselves wrongly for His visitation. In John 5:1-15, we read of the man with an infirmity for thirty eight years who had been waiting by the pool of Bethseda for his healing.
His perception was that he needed a man to put him in the stirred pool, in order for him to be healed. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough to get into the pool whenever it was stirred, so for thirty eight years, this man had perceived his healing could only come by getting in the pool. This had greatly limited him in terms of getting his healing.
Ģod is diverse in His operations. We cannot carve a modus operandi for Him, therefore we need to be open minded in order to embrace His methods of operation that we may not have previously considered, or ever fathomed. In the above story line, this man was only seeing healing through being put in the pool. Even when the healer was standing before him, and asking if he wanted to be made well, he was still talking about having no one to put him in the pool.
Sometimes our mindset is fixed on a doctrine and/or theology. We place God in a box because of our perception, and often miss Him as a result. Jesus had mercy on this man because he had suffered for long, and healed him in spite of his misperceptions and closed mindedness.
What situation are you facing at this time that maybe you could be perceiving wrongly what God will do and how He will do it? Do you ever try to figure God and His ways out? You could be wasting your thoughts, energy and strength because God's ways can be incomprehensible to man's logical mind.
Simply trust Him and follow His leading, and you will find the way out of every maze.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
WHAT IS NEXT?
