God's Point Perspective
When I went to college to study art and design, the importance of viewing objects from different sight points or vantage points was emphasized repeatedly. Great artists and sculptors throughout the centuries used perspectives to capture the interest and trust of those beholding their masterpieces—some in beautiful ways, others in raw, disturbing ones. The concept of perspectives has stayed with me, shaping how I see the world.
In view of perspectives in relationships, It’s often said that opposites attract. For Jon and me, it’s our differing characteristics and approaches that drew us to appreciate each other. Yet, those same differences can spark frustration and irritation, sometimes driving a wedge of hurt between our viewpoints. Recently, I stumbled across a book from the mid-nineties, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. I’d read it before we married, hoping to glean more understanding about men, feeling inexperienced having grown up with only sisters. I wanted insight into what makes men tick, their driving motivations. Looking back, I don’t recall much of it—probably because I naively thought a book could unlock the mystery of men. Now, after 25 years of marriage and raising three boys, I find it a bit comical. No book could fully prepare me; the real understanding comes through living out the experience.
Jon and I are polar opposites in many ways, we see life through vastly different lenses. When we said our vows—“in sickness and in health”—it felt easy in the glow of new love. But it’s in the hard moments, when life’s ebb and flow knocks you off balance, that your perspective shifts. How you react and perceive those trials fuels your passion and purpose, shaping what your viewpoint rests upon. We each carry the influence of the “university” of our upbringing—unique teachings from childhood that blend distinct differences with occasional similarities. In marriage, these two “universities” try to connect, and in our self-preserving pride, we often cling to our familiar viewpoint as the “right” one.
Over the past 25 years of marriage, we’ve navigated life as teammates through the loss of a pregnancy, the death of a parent, foster care, running a business together, adopting our daughter, raising five unique kids, and facing a child’s illness. It’s through these experiences that we shape how we process and express our perspectives. We each hold to our own perspective by our sense of what is the true, molded by who we are and what we do.
I tend to view situations through my emotions and an aesthetic eye for beauty. I can visualize how something should look, though numbers feel abstract to me. Spontaneous and flexible by nature, I was shaped as a middle child in my “university.” Jon, on the other hand, is structured and logical, his views rooted in process, mechanical functions, and financial cost. As a firstborn, his “university” taught him to plan and analyze before acting, focusing only on what’s directly in plain sight. From parenting to shopping, household projects to movie watching, we perceive things differently—and we often struggle to appreciate each other’s imperfect perspective.
Yet the Bible tells us, God’s ways are perfect. Omnividence, His all-seeing nature, is one of the many attributes that defines who He is. Unlike our sin-distorted views, God holds every possible perfect perspective. Knowing Him as this possessor stirs a longing for what we lack. As the songwriter cries, “Be Thou my Vision,” and the Psalmist pleads, “Oh, give me eyes to see,” we’re drawn to His clarity.
In His perfect plan, God revealed His glorious vision through the gospels, written by His disciples transformed by their journey with Jesus. During this Lenten season, it’s a blessing to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—each offering their firsthand perspective of God becoming man and walking among them. John captures it creatively in 1 John 1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—the Life was made manifest, and we have seen it.” Though Spirit-ordained, each gospel reflects the writer’s personality, thoughts, and viewpoint. Together, they form completed puzzle pieces of God’s redemptive picture—a view the Old Testament writers glimpsed only dimly, but which Jesus unveils to us with new eyesight.
God underscores this turning point in history by weaving the gospels multiple perspectives of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection into Scripture. It highlights His human connection thru His glorious word, showing how His Spirit intimately relates to us, His image-bearers.
As we reflect on what God has done for us through His son Jesus, this season, may it remind us to praise Him for giving us this grace filled glimpse of His perspective.