Study – Grow – Know

God’s Perspective vs Ours

July 14, 2023 at 10:37 AM 11 comments

After careful consideration and prayer, I have decided to not only continue writing, but probably write more. I’ve realized several things that have helped clarify this decision for me. First, I enjoy writing a great deal and I believe it is a gift God has given me so to no longer write or write minimally would not honor God. Second, I’ve realized what has hampered me and that is turning my articles into audios for my page on Sermon Audio. That can take awhile, even though I have it down to a science. Going forward, I’m not going to turn every written article into an audio, though I will convert one, possibly two per week into audios. The rest will remain here as written articles and those that do not become audios will also be posted at Sermon Audio as part of my blog there, which connects back to here.

Third, I am going to write about many different things that come into my life and brain, and seem important enough for me to focus on. It won’t mainly be end times information, though I’ll still include that. It’ll cover numerous areas that I believe are important at least for me as a Christian and if readers find them beneficial, wonderful. If not, that’s okay too.

Fourth, one of the main reasons I’ve made the decision to not only continue writing but to increase the number of articles (some will be shorter and others will be longer), is because of Tucker Carlson, who clarified something for me that I did not know needed clarification.

I watched his interview with Russell Brand and Tucker made the comment that though he was fired from Fox, he needed to continue writing because that is the “currency” he uses. It struck me. I’m the same way. I’ve been writing for decades and I need to continue doing so because I still have many things to say (whether or not it benefits others or even if anyone reads it is beside the point). Beyond this, it keeps my brain active and that is the best defense against aging; an active and working brain.

Fifth, I have to say I truly appreciate all the feedback I receive. I’ve been doing this for 14 years or so and at one point, I had over 11,000 subscribers (many through Twitter), but because of censorship there, my account dwindled to literally nothing and I lost a good amount of followers there and here. I eventually quit Twitter because of all that censorship and have only recently gone back. I’ve done so, not to regain followers but to have access to news and other information available there. I’m way beyond being concerned about the number of followers and frankly, if no one read this blog, I’d still publish articles because it allows me to put my thoughts down and helps me to understand what it is I’m learning from the Bible. I’m thankful for folks who have chosen to comment over the years even if they are in disagreement with aspects of what I write and remain polite and respectful in their disagreement.

When all is said and done, what I have to say here is not going to change the world, but if it helps me understand something deeper about His Word (and a reader or two as well), it’s worth it to continue writing. Having said all that, folks can expect more notices in their inbox each time I publish something, so I hope I don’t overwhelm you.

Let’s move into this article’s subject.

I’ve always had a tough time with the idea that evil people will reap their reward eventually, but not necessarily in this life. We see it all the time, the way evil people get away with their evil. We’re not talking about people who are sinners as we all are, who make mistakes at times. We’re talking about people who actively pursue evil purposes throughout their lives so that at some point, they are fully given over to evil itself and that’s all they know and live.

Christians are not supposed to wish for even an evil person to be taken from this life mainly because it is God’s plan to graciously give them as many opportunities as possible to receive salvation. Once they leave this life, those chances are over. Our prayers for others – especially unbelievers – should be seasoned with grace.

Still, it is very difficult for me to appreciate God’s perspective at times. We read in His Word His constant promises to deal with evil and those who practice it “quickly” or “soon.” Yet, since the beginning of Creation, evil people continue to rise and fall, often live long healthy lives, become very rich in the process and gain the advantage over many people.

How is it possible to gain at least some understanding of what God means when He says things like this from Psalm 37:1-5?

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

Or with this from Psalm 145:17-20.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him. But all the wicked He will destroy.

The above verses speak of the fact that God will deal with wicked people with finality and Psalm 37 notes that it’ll happen “soon.” Even though Psalm 145:17-20 doesn’t speak of how soon it will happen, we can rest assured that it will occur.

As human beings, we see evil actions and hear evil words and we want God to step in to correct the problem. If correction directed at them doesn’t work, we want Him to remove people who are simply sold out exclusively to Satan and his evil purposes.

When we read verses like the ones above, we tend to read them from our perspective, not God’s, often with the question, how much longer? tagged on. If we saw things from God’s perspective, we would understand. As it is, our perspective often aligns with self.

What accounts for the differences in our perspective versus God’s? Aside from the fact that we are not God, it all boils down to the difference between time and eternity. It is simply very difficult for us to comprehend the difference because we are living within the parameters of time now, not eternity. Once we arrive to eternity, our perspective will take on eternal understanding.

Let me provide a few examples of what I mean. I’m a visual learner and maybe you are as well. I have to see something before I can fully understand it. Maybe that’s why – for me – studying His Word is often so difficult because it’s essentially words on a page that only He can bring alive to me.

Consider the example of a public pool. Usually, at these pools, lifeguards will seat themselves on high platforms right next to and overlooking the pool for the best vantage point. They can then simply dive into the pool from where they sit and save a life if needed. The fact that they are higher than the pool and everyone in it, means they have the best vantage point. That vantage point provides a perspective that the swimmers do not have.

Another example is of a sports stadium with a live sporting event happening. You’ll note that at virtually all sports fields, they are surrounded by bleachers or rows of seats that go higher and higher around the field. This affords spectators the best possible view to capture the action on the field below. In the photo (Beijing 2008), the photographer can be clearly see and easily follow all the runners as they run toward the finish line.

These examples, while not perfect, provide clarity on perspective; God’s versus ours. They serve to point out God is not impacted by time like us. When He was born into this realm of time as Jesus, He yielded to the constraints of time (unless He performed a miracle).

God remains outside of time but can come into it whenever He wants and the Bible is filled with examples of this occurring, not only with God, but with angelic messengers. Because He’s remains outside of time and is not encumbered by it so when He says something will happen “soon,” it literally means it will happen soon from His perspective in eternity, not necessarily from ours.

In the “Eternity/Time/Eternity” image, note because of God’s vantage point, He sees everything that has happened, is happening or will happen in the sphere of time (as though happening at the same time), just as the lifeguard or spectator can see everything that occurs in the pool or on the field within the stadium.

We often fail to fully comprehend God’s meaning of how things will move along in this life because His commentary on what happens on earth (from His Word), always seems to have a view of immediacy whereas to us living here, it doesn’t, and often seems to take “forever.”

So the main reason we cannot ever fully appreciate God’s perspective is due simply to the fact that we are in this physical dimension that is governed by the passage of time. Time affects everything about us. We live our lives by time. We age. We count the days or weeks between events; vacations, the next birthday or whatever it happens to be. For us, time is the thing that moves us from one event to the next event with the last event being is death. Not counting the Rapture, everyone will all die. Though globalists today are doing whatever they can to bring about their own permanent longevity through experimentation and trans-humanism, they will all die. Yet Satan has convinced them (like he convinced Adam and Eve), that they don’t have to die.

So because God sees everything that takes place in our sphere of time all at once, this natural ability of His grants Him the greatest, most powerful perspective of all, something I don’t think we will completely understand in this life, or even in eternity. For God, the promise that He will deal with something and the gap or space between that promise and the fulfillment of it is a blink of an eye. But for us, it can stretch into years, decades or centuries. Like the Israelites of old, we often find ourselves sighing heavy sighs of “When Lord? When?” God says, “It’s done!”

Sometimes, I wish I was more like Job who put his hand over his mouth to keep from saying something stupid. What he was saying was “I’ve already complained too much and to ensure that it stops, I will physically block my mouth!” Job realized he added nothing to the conversation as he sat in abject awe of God. Though Job started out perplexed, frustrated and almost indignant, he realized ultimately that God is God and His purposes are often way too high for us to comprehend.

Do you think Job ever questioned God again? Do you think he approached life differently from that point on? Do you think he had a greater (though still imperfect), understanding of God’s perspective after what Job went through? I’d prefer not to go through any of that to arrive to the same conclusion.

Teach me your way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your Name (Psalm 86:11)

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, eternity, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation.