Hey Brother,
As adults, we often have the tendency to get complacent. We take for granted all the simple blessings we have. I know I do. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the struggles of day-to-day life and forget all the good things we have. When we get this way, it’s good to step back and take a different look at life – get a new perspective.
Recently our home was graced by a pirate. Well, not a pirate exactly. Really, it’s my toddler wearing an eye patch. He has a bit of lazy eye, so he needs to wear a patch for two hours a day to make his weak eye stronger. But that’s not exactly how I explained it to him. I told him that each day we were going to pretend to be pirates. Notice I said “we.” That’s right, I bought myself a pack of pirate eye patches that I could wear along with him. Cute, right?
Well, it may be cute, but I wasn’t prepared for how the lack of one eye would just completely throw me off. He’d ride his bike with just one eye and seem fine, but I could barely walk without bumping into things. As I mentally prepared for countless bruises, I began to thank God for having two good eyes.
Playing pirate showed me how dependent I was on something I took for granted every single day.
With my vision obscured, I had to be hypervigilant with my good eye, and a funny thing happened. I noticed things about my surroundings I hadn’t before. I was focusing so much on seeing with one eye that I “saw” things I didn’t normally pay attention to. Meanwhile, my son zoomed around on his bike seemingly unhindered by his temporary incapacitation.
I didn’t need to wear the eye patch, but I did it to help my son. Surprisingly it also helped me to empathize with him. I was amazed at how much peripheral vision I lost. It made me realize that sometimes, when he was ignoring me or not picking up the toy I was pointing to, it wasn’t because he was being disobedient; it was because he couldn’t see! It made me watch out for him just a little more when he was running around corners or going down stairs. Lowering myself to his level, taking on his disability, helped me empathize with him.
After all, isn’t that what Jesus did for us? To be like us he “was made a little lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:9). He “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) so we could see that He understands our perspective and can empathize with us. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
If the God of the universe can humble Himself by becoming like us, serving us, and sacrificing Himself for us, then how much more should we be willing to humble ourselves so we can understand and better serve others.
Brother, how often do we look down at someone of “lower status” or ability? We should first put ourselves in others’ shoes (or eye patches) and try to see from their perspective. It will help us understand them better, love them better, and share the Gospel with them better.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
but made himself of no reputation,and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8
Kristopher Galuska
Family Radio Staff