Have you ever had really cold hands?
Maybe you just came in from outside and you were touching snow with your bare hands. Then you go to wash them and the water feels so tingly hot. But then you wash up your arm a little ways and you notice that the water is really very cold.
It just feels hot on your cold hands.
This happens to me everyday. I have perpetually cold hands, so I’m always testing the water up on my arm to find out what the temperature really is. Because I can’t trust my hands. My hand perception isn’t trustworthy.
This got me thinking.
I wonder what other perceptions I have that I shouldn’t be trusting. What head perceptions do I need to check on my arm to make sure I know what’s real? Of course, I wouldn’t really check my arm, instead I’d run it by Mr. TommyD or a good friend.
What perceptions that I have about people are wrong? about sin? Maybe I think someone doesn’t like me. I think they’re cold towards me, but really they’re warm. Or maybe I have become so accustomed to certain sins that I don’t even feel them as cold.
This is just one of many reasons I’m really happy to be married. I’ve got someone there to check my perception v. reality meter. Of course, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are the ultimate reality check-ers. Because they show us True Reality. And that’s why it’s incredibly dangerous for me (or anyone) to get away from Scripture. It is the one constant in culture of change.
It cuts through perception to reveal timeless and timely Reality. Without it I go adrift in my own perception.
The Word gives me Christ.
And Christ is Real.
“Maybe I think someone doesn’t like me. I think they’re cold towards me, but really they’re warm.”
I wonder this too, and know that sometimes my warm comes across as too hot to some people, which is difficult to understand as well when I try to make that dynamic work with theirs.
Christ is real and Christ is so good!
Shelly, I can relate. I have to be conscious not to wear my default “scowl” face. It’s completely unintentional, I just have a face that looks like I’m concentrating or aloof, when I’m really just blank or even cheerful.
So I try to brighten my face (not be fake), but just keep away from the perpetual look of slight consternation. So that my expression actually matches how I feel.
This blog’s great!! Thanks :).
What a great insight–and such good examples to illustrate it…
That is so true about being careful not to assume things that we think people think about us, or why someone did nor did not say or do something. I have gotten that wrong so many times!
I had a disagreement with a friend and colleague several years ago. I was in church thinking how wrong she was, and this verse came to mind:
“Don’t think evil of one another.” I argued with the Lord, “I’m not thinking evil of her; I just think she’s wrong.” But the verse wouldn’t go away.
I have been reminded of that verse so many times in so many situations since then. Maybe there would be less conflict and hurt feelings in church–and even church splits prevented–if we took this verse to heart more. I’m so thick the Lord has to keep hitting me over the head with it–I’m glad he’s persistent!
Check with Kirsten about the cold hands. I think you have hit on a fundemental truth. That of perceptions. That is part of the reason I am frequently uncertain of what the ‘real’ truth is. Is it mine, or someone else’s? No matter how hard I try, I am often swayed by my perceptions. I try.
Well said, Sweet Cousin. Well said.