“I’ve noticed that the lens of fear is a close-up lens. It causes tunnel vision, focusing only on what’s right in front of us and making obstacles seem bigger than they are. The lens of faith is a wide-angle lens. It provides the big picture, refusing to leave God out and keeping everything in proper perspective.”- Kyle Idleman
Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 10 of Every Thought Captive as he invites us to reflect on a few questions. Questions that help us determine how what we think shapes our perspective. In addition, these questions reveal the origin of our current perspective. And how we can change it going forward. Pastor Idleman talks about the first question today.
1. What am I looking for? Dr. John Gottman, one of the world’s foremost marriage researchers and clinical psychologists, studies why some marriages succeed while others fail. Thus, Dr. Gottman describes ‘marriage masters’ and ‘marriage disasters.’ Above all, one factor separates masters from disasters: perspective.
Therefore, Dr. Gottman explains, masters possess a positive sentiment override. As a result, marriage masters choose the best possible explanations for what their spouse does, or for the mood they’re in. In contrast, marriage disasters possess a negative sentiment override. Because while they see the same thing as the masters do, they assume the worst.
Most significantly, in Philippians 4:8 the apostle Paul gives us a filter for our thoughts. A filter that shapes our perspectives and determines our lives. Hence, Kyly exhorts, think of Paul’s list in Philippians 4 as a filter to run your thoughts through when you take them captive.
In conclusion, Pastor Idleman counsels:
“What are you looking for? Not what are you looking at, but what are you looking for? What you look for is what you’ll find. . . . Do you look for what’s good? Do you look for the fruit, or do you look for frustrations? Whatever one you look for, you’ll find it.
Do you look for opportunities or obstacles? For beauty or barriers? For what’s possible or for problems? The twelve spies looked at the same thing, but ten looked through the lens of fear and saw problems, but two looked through the lens of faith and saw promise.”
Today’s question: What lens do you tend to look through most? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: ‘Thought diet – nourish your mind”