Perspective

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well (Psalms 139:14, NIV).

I am so messed up!

Why did God make me like this?

What could possibly be special about me?

I hear questions like these all the time. We are always comparing ourselves to others: in how we look, how we live, what we think, what we can do or not do. It is one of the effects of our fallen sinful nature to focus on how our differences are negative, discrepancies, and privations.

I have been thinking a lot about this because two of my daughters have been diagnosed as having some “disorders.” One has been diagnosed with severe depression disorder, and the other with that plus, severe anxiety disorder. These are not due to environmental causes, but are biological. It is who they are. It is how they were came into the world. It is the way they are wired. This “wiring” is often looked at as bad (i.e. as disorders, disabilities, handicaps, etc…). But I have been learning that this same wiring that produces depression and anxiety also enables them to be unusually compassionate, empathetic, and very intuitive to the needs and feelings of others.

In other words, the very same characteristics that make them prone to depression and anxiety and all the challenges and pitfalls that go along with them, also enable them to be extremely gifted in other ways. When they are focused inwardly on themselves they can become their own worst enemy. But when they are focused outwardly on others they excel at being gracious and understanding and are able to see how people are hurting and how to help them.

I believe we need to bring Psalms 139:14 to bear on these things. Are we looking about ourselves from the right perspective? The right perspective being God’s perspective. I great illustration of what I mean is in this video on making a 3D drawing of the Loch Ness Monster.

When the drawing is finished, if you look at it head on it looks distorted, like the artist was not paying close attention to what he was doing. A fact that is seemingly made more obvious by the fact that it has been cut out and exposed. This is an understandable mistake because most drawings are meant to be looked at head on.

But this drawing was not meant to be viewed from that perspective. The perceived distortion is not the artist’s mistake or the fault of the drawing, but is caused by the viewer’s perspective. When you look at the final drawing from the perspective that the artist intended, not only do the distortions and disproportions disappear, it becomes something extraordinary.

When it comes to questions like “I am so messed up!”, “Why did God make me like this?”, and “What could possibly be special about me?” I have been learning that your perceived “disability,” “disorder,” or “difference” is not the source of the problem, but the perspective from which it is viewed.