Change of Perspective

A few years ago, I heard the story of a young mom with a preschooler. The active young boy seemed to be having trouble staying in close proximity to his mom while playing in public places. Wandering off wasn't something he needed to do for several reasons, especially for safety and security. It concerned the mom that he seemed to ignore her when she told him to "Stay where I can see you."

After repeated failed attempts to get him to obey and stay close by while playing, she struggled to know what to do. She didn't want him to quit playing, but she also didn't want to overlook his behavior. After talking to a friend about the situation, the friend suggested she change how she instructs him. In his mind, he had no way of knowing if she could still see him or not. He was also so focused on his activity that his attention span was very short.

Instead of telling him to "stay where I can see you," she turned things around and said, "Stay where you can see me." Voila. That totally changed the entire scenario. He no longer wandered off (well, maybe not always) because now he would look up from time to time to look for his mom. If he could see her, then he knew he could keep playing. His behavior changed quickly and all was well. All it took was to see things from a child's perspective rather than an adults. How amazing and intriguing.
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There are so many "life lessons" in this story, even when it comes to adultery recovery and prevention. The Bible says that we can never go where God cannot see us or find us. He's all places, at all times (Psalm 139:7-12). When living in sin or drifting from God, He can still see us, but we start to have trouble seeing Him and feeling His presence. The deeper we fall into sin, the cloudier His face and character becomes. Darkness takes over. Peace leaves us. Clarity and discernment is gone. We hide from Him like Adam and Eve did. We run from the Light. Foolishness, pride, fear, guilt, shame, jealousy, and more fill our hearts and lead us down very sinful paths, away from closeness with Christ.

Like Colossians 1:21 says, " Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions." Such truth! I lived that for a long time. I'm grateful for the following verses, though:

²² But now He has reconciled you by His physical body^[k] through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— ²³ if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

He didn't leave us in our sin and darkness! What grace and mercy! He constantly calls us into fellowship with Him and His Father, a.k.a. Papa.

To stay off the path of betrayal and sin, I need to think of my relationship with God like the mom did with her preschooler. Instead of trying to stay where "He can see me," I need to turn that around. I need to think, "I need to stay where I can see Him." He always sees me, but sin causes me to not be able to see Him as He really is. Therefore, it's a pretty safe place to be when I am close to God, living right in the center of His will and fellowship. The closer I get to Him, the more clearly I see Him, and myself, as He sees me. 

Jesus had a clear mission on Earth: to make His Father known and to save His lost sheep. He accomplished that and simply asks us to trust Him, stay close to Him, and let Him do the work in and through us. On our own, we are hopelessly lost and weak. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. In Him, though, we are more than conquerors!!
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John 17:3, (HCSB)

³ This is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only true God,
and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.