KEEP PERSPECTIVE, MOLE HILL VS MOUNTAIN…
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (two parts)
I HAVE A PAIR OF BINOCULARS… I ask someone to look through backwards --- things are small and distant. Then I ask another person to look through them the proper way --- it makes things larger and closer.
I knew an artist, his perspective was amazing. I knew an art critic his perspective was so different, he was looking for something wrong with the art piece. What are you an artist or an art critic? I knew a preacher that sold suits. He could tell you what size suit a man wore without asking. I had a mechanic ride with me to Tennessee within two miles he told me I had a problem. I was visiting with a group of mothers. Their children were playing. There was a sudden scream, one mom jumped up and ran.
She knew her child’s cry. Why? It all has something to do with our background, experience and perspective.
*PERSPECTIVE: your mental view, the way you see something, outlook, position, a point of view, a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something,
*TO KEEP PERSPECTIVE: to look at the whole picture, to see things in their proper relation/proportion, to step back and see things in a balanced way, to see things in how they relate.
DISTORTED PERSPECTIVE… BECOMES A REALITY IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER…
Christmas day 2020 on Second Street downtown Nashville rocked as a camper was filled with explosives and we met a man named ANTHONY QUINN WARNER, 63 years old. The bomber’s dad had worked for Bell South, a communications company. Later Bell South merged with AT&T. ANTHONY WARNER was an IT (Information Technologist) man and knew much about computers and communications systems. It was reported that Warner loved marijuana.
Warner was single and lived alone. A month before the bombing Warner deeded his house over to a woman. Warner told several of his neighbors that soon Nashville and the world would never forget him. In August the year before the Nashville Police was warned Warner was building a bomb. It was reported that Anthony’s girlfriend PAMELA PERRY reported on August 21, 2019 that Anthony was suicidal and making bombs. It was reported Warner never “liked the police.” The police knocked on his door and there was no answer. They saw nothing out of the way so they never returned.
Christmas day Warner pulled the RV on to Second Street and there was a report of shots fired. Several police officers responded. The RV played a warning in 15 minutes a bomb was going off. 8 people were injured, 40 buildings damaged. The song DOWNTOWN, a 1964 hit was being played.
The police found a hat and one glove and was able to gather DNA evidence.
TALK ABOUT PERSPECTIVE, WARNER WAS PARANOID ABOUT THE NEW 5G TECHNOLOGY. Anthony believed this 5G SYSTEM was being used by the government to get information and SPY on people.
It appears he never wanted to harm anyone, he wanted to warn people of the 5G system and to disrupt the COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
DISTORTED PERSPECTIVES CAN BIRTH FEAR AND TROUBLE.
Perspective: We had a friend that was a caregiver that sat with old people. They invited me over for a visit. We were sitting around the kitchen table and great fear came upon the old lady. She saw a huge spider in the middle of the table. Her caregiver said where? We could not see the spider. She told us where the spider was. We decided to pretend and we would kill “the big spider.” I crushed that big spider with a napkin. It was surely dead? The old lady jumped up, knocked her chair over and was screaming so loud. When I squished the big spider, 10 million baby spiders came running out of the napkin? Her fear was great. It was real? At least real to her?
ACUTE HOPELESSNESS CAN GROW OUT OF WRONG PERSPECTIVES. CHRONIC ISSUES (REOCCURRING, PERSISTANT, LONG TIME, CONSTANT) REINFORCED NEGATIVITY.
CHRONIC IS DEFINED AS LASTING AT LEAST 3 MONTHS. HOW ABOUT 38 YEARS?
John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
Can you imagine the discussions that went on around this pool? There was a sick man that lay 38 years waiting for his miracle. This man was terribly handicapped. Not only was he handicapped every person laying around him had serious problems. This can alter your perspective. His friends all around him were a great multitude of sick people. They were blind people, lame people and paralyzed people.
YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY PERSPECTIVE… MY SITUATION HAS DEFINED ME. 38 LONG PAINFUL YEARS, I AM TRAPPED… I HAVE AN EXCUSE…
John 5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
JESUS KNEW 38 YEARS TRAPPED IN A CHRONIC PROBLEM, BEING TRAPPED WITH MANY OTHER PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC ISSUES CAN BECOME A HEAVY DEFINING ISSUE. JESUS ASKED AN UNUSUAL QUESTION: DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?
OFTEN TIMES WE ALLOW OUR PERSPECTIVE TO BE DEFINED BY OUR TRIALS, STORMS AND BATTLES. WE ARE NOT HOPELESS … JESUS WILL COME BY… DO YOU DESIRE A SOLUTION? Do we want to stay here…
John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
WHAT WILL YOUR EPITAPH SAY…? YOUR VALUE SYSTEM WEIGHS HEAVY ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE. TELL ME WHAT TO DO AS LONG AS I AGREE AND YOUR ANSWER ALIGNS WITH MY VALUE SYSTEM? WILL I WALK AWAY?
My dad always said: What one person swears for, another will swear against. I know people that would never own a FORD? Others say CHEVYS are the best?
Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
The young man wanted what he wanted… It is very sad, HIS PERSPECTIVE OVERRODE THE ADVICE OF THE SON OF GOD… If you will be perfect… THE YOUNG MAN SPENT HIS LIFE CHASING THE END OF THE RAINBOW. Ponder, what was the EPITAPH ON HIS TOMBSTONE?
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Life is not about the date of your birth, nor is it about the date of your death. Life is about the dash between your DOB and your DOD.
NAAMAN WAS A GREAT MAN. HE WAS RICH AND FAMOUS. HE WAS A GENERAL AND A VALIANT SOLDIER. NAAMAN WAS HIGHLY RESPECTED BUT HE HAD A SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT EFFECTED HIS PERSPECTIVE… NAAMAN HAD LEPROSY.
Leprosy is a slow painful death that isolates the patient from everyone they love. Naaman brought back a young girl as a slave. This girl worked for Naaman’s wife. The young girl changed the PERSPECTIVE from HOPELESSNESS to GREAT HOPE… The girl told the family, there is a GOD in Israel. This God has a Preacher that TRUST IN GOD. Go to ISRAEL ask God for a miracle. NAAMAN’S PERSPECTIVE WAS WRONG: HE WENT TO THE KING. The king cannot do it.
2 Kings 5:8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
I THOUGHT I WOULD CONTROL THE MESSAGE AND THE PREACHER… HOW DOES ANGER CONTROL YOUR PERSPECTIVE… NAAMAN WAS INTENSELY ANGRY,
There is a call from the world to dictate a CIRCUS ATMOSPHERE … I THOUGHT THE PREACHER SHOULD DO THIS AND THAT… I am a famous, rich and powerful man, the Preacher should come out and do what my perspective demands. The nerve of that idiot to tell me to dip 7 times in a dirty river.
2 Kings 5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
DID YOU KNOW COMMON SENSE IS NOT VERY COMMON? SEEMS PEOPLE THINK THAT THEIR PERSPECTIVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ETERNAL OPINION… MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY? ARE YOU GOING HOME WITH YOUR MIRACLE?
Naaman had some servant that spoke against their owner’s perspective… listen, Naaman you have a bad attitude and a bad perspective.
2 Kings 5:13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
MY PERSPECTIVE IS THE PREACHER IS ALWAYS NEGATIVE… I HATE HIM, I HATE HIS WORDS… I AM RIGHT, PREACHER IS WRONG. (Ma-ki-ya) AHAB AND JEZEBEL HAD A POPULAR PERSPECTIVE…
MICAIAH…(MA-ki-ya) was a man of God with a GOD PERSPECTIVE. Why does the King so hate the Preacher? Maybe he does not like the message.
1 Kings 22:8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
LISTEN TO ME, PREACHER YOU HAVE A BAD ATTITUDE AND PERSPECTIVE. I AM TELLING YOU SPEAK GOOD THINGS TO THE KING… ALL THE OTHER PREACHERS HAVE SHARED THEIR PERSPECTIVE OF GREAT VICTORIES AHEAD.
1 Kings 22:13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
1 Kings 22:18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
IS THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CROWD GREATER THAN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE MAN OF GOD? TALK ABOUT THE PERSPECTIVE ONE… WE WILL SEE…
1 Kings 22:28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
Conclusion: WE NEED SOME CHEERLEADERS TO FAN THE FLAME and encourage and refresh others… Avoid the extremes. Guard your perspectives and keep them aligned with the word of God. The Bible is the truth scale.
2 Timothy 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Twisted perspective?
In March of 1976 I was teaching the sixth grade at Elk Knob, Woodway, Virginia. I was the only male teacher in the school and I had great rapport with the students, staff and parents. In early March I noticed small groups of the staff whispering around me. I would walk up and hear someone say: HEAR COMES MR. HUGHES and they would walk away. This hurt my feelings so bad. Day after day this occurred. I noticed one lady was the ring leader. My perspective was she was turning the other staff members against me. I went in the office and pressed the intercom button and called the lady in to tell her off. All the other teachers were with her? Wow, a show down? Before I spoke, the ring leader had an envelope in her hand. She stepped forward and said: WE HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU. We know you and Linda are having your first born child this month and we all have given money to buy a nice new baby bed for the baby. They all said how much they loved me and was proud of the work I was doing. As they left the office, the ring leader said What did you want? I said: NOTHING. I convinced myself they all hated me. They really loved me.
In life it is easy to get a twisted perspective, stay in the Bible and prayer. You can’t always trust you emotions. DO YOU MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF MOLEHILLS…
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND YOUR EYES FOCUSED.
