Going Deeper: A Change of Perspective in the Spirit by Grace Erickson (Originally published in Gritty Faith Vol. 11)
When I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time, I was profoundly aware of its vastness and depth. I was on a month-long road trip with my dear friend and traveling companion, Amy. She insisted that since it was my first time, I should see the Canyon as the sun rose, and I thought that sounded pretty magical. I had to convince myself of this at 3 a.m. that morning, as I roused myself from my warm bed so we could drive two hours through the cold desert night.
As we pulled into the park and found a good spot to observe from, the first streaks of light were melting into the horizon. With more and more light, more and more of the Canyon was revealed to us.
After looking upon it from sunrise to mid-morning, Amy asked me what I thought. I spoke what had been in my head the whole time, “It just keeps going on and on.” As soon as I thought I could see the whole Canyon, another layer would be revealed to me as I continued to wander the edge and look down and out and around.
I love how everything in life has many layers. The further we dive into something, the more we can experience and learn about it, the more we can see. The rest of that roadtrip, and since then, the Lord has continued to speak to me about perspective changes and about the depths of who He is and His vast love for me; it just keeps going on and on.
The story the Holy Spirit highlighted for the trip was when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. A teacher much wiser and spiritually deeper than I walked Amy and me through the passage one day, mid-way through our pilgrimage. He highlighted Jesus setting aside his robe before He knelt, because that was a symbol of His stature, and He was setting aside His identity as King to humbly wash the feet of His friends because He loved them. The disciples couldn’t understand what He was doing, because it wasn’t His job to wash their feet. They needed a perspective change of who Jesus was, and what it meant when He said He loved them.
How would you feel if someone you held in high esteem, someone you thought you were serving, set aside their lofty title to do a menial task for you? I might be uncomfortable. I might think I don’t need you to be doing this, don’t trouble yourself. And even more so for the disciples, the role reversal completely toppled their mindset. They had to get a perspective change to see deeper the spiritual things of Jesus, because that is where He said they would see His Kingdom, not in the earthly. And the Kingdom is where His promises lie. That day, Jesus was certainly toppling what I thought to be true about who He is, so that we could go deeper. As long as I have wrong thinking, it keeps me from seeing deeper, and He won’t have that. This speaks to His pursuit of us as His beloved.
I’ve spoken before on traps of the mind. Wrong thinking is certainly one, as it keeps us from knowing God. Over a year ago, when the Lord began to reveal these things to me, I felt such a lift. The truth is that a perspective change from the Lord is more freedom, more love. If there isn’t a supernatural lightness that follows, question the source. The Lord has gone through so many avenues to show me new perspectives. His creativity and thoughtfulness unique to each of us is boundless.
One season, He spoke gentleness over me through bird watching, and now it is a fond pastime we share. The deeper I went with it, the more He showed up for me. Another season was in sunrises and sunsets, about simply spending time together. It was a foundational lesson in allowing Him to be my pacesetter. He has highlighted deep truths to me through blockbuster movies, little children, animals, dreams, and the list, well, goes on and on…
Grace Erickson is a South Dakota native. She has been writing since before she could string two words together. Growing up on a farm, she has always had an affinity for animals and is blessed with a day job working for a local veterinarian. She enjoys herb and perennial gardening. Her passion is for whole healing through engaged connection in relationships. She can be reached further at gracefulbotanicals@gmail.com