Life in Our Fishbowl: Perceptions

Perceptions. Our world is THICK with perceptions. My hubbie and I have been talking about this concept for the past few days (that happens when your hubbie preaches about it on Sunday!). My entire life, I always perceived specific things of my pastor's family. And now that I AM the mom in a pastor's family, those ideas are STILL there! It's true! 

Now, I know, that we are normal people. VERY "NORMAL." But it's always at the back of my mind that there are several things that I "need to make sure that my family accomplishes" because its expected. Like my children should sit still in church and NEVER run in the church. And my house should ALWAYS be cleaned in case company pops over. And I should NEVER be in my pajamas after 9:00am. Goes along with the company thing. Yes, I'm still in my pajamas! 

Then there are the perceptions that I think I should DO. Things that I expect out of myself. These are the ones that I put on my own shoulders. Things like taking my kids outside every day the sun shines, or having my son potty trained before he turns 3, or making sure there are amazing meals on the table three times a day, or being a size 8 (yea, so NOT there!) It's EXHAUSTING! 

Well my hubbie switched roles yesterday and became my pastor to me and God used his words mightily in my heart. Who says that I need to be be be be be . . . . ? Who says? It's definitely NOT the Bible. So then it's definitely NOT God. Then who is it? It's ME. It's not even other PEOPLE! Now they might imply things and slip in little comments that were meant to direct you into the "right way that you should go." But it's ME who decides to impose the perception into my life. It's my decision to take responsibility for the perception. 

Now I am NOT saying that we should drop the perceptions and do whatever trips our fancy. There are good reasons for those perceptions. Using the lens of the Bible we need to evaluate our perceptions to see if they match up to GOD'S PERCEPTIONS. Our ideas are meaningless unless they are the same as God's. What does God think of my endeavors to keep a spotless house? What does God think of my endeavors to keep my children sitting like statues in the church services? What does God think of my endeavors to. . . ? 

Now obviously Pastor's families are not the only ones who have perceptions thrown at them every day. Think of the president of the United States or Prince Will and Kate - I felt like they were a WALKING EXAMPLE of a couple trying to fulfill a MULTITUDE of perceptions. But now think of the expectations of moms, dads, children, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers. We all have ideas of what they should be like. But what REALLY matters is what GOD wants us to be. 

So how do we take this and grow from it? We need to examine our heart and our lives and ask God "What do YOU have for me today? What do YOU expect from me today? How can I follow YOUR perceptions for my life today?" God has a plan for each and every one of us and sometimes what we THINK we should be doing is NOT a part of God's plan even though it may be on the to-do list of everyone else out there. Psalm 37 says: 

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [2]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

We are responsible for following God's path and committing our paths to GOD not to what our culture or our peers or even our own desires seem to be leading and guiding us to do. Trust God and it will all be beautiful. 

And search your own heart to see if maybe you are pushing your own perceptions on someone else. Maybe you are judging someone for something based on your own ideas. And once again, pray for your pastor's family or anyone else who is responsible for others well-being that they will be able to follow God and not man. 

Thanks for peering into our fishbowl today!