Friday, April 17, 2009

You See What You Look For

WOW!!! What an incredible performance by Susan Boyle on the show Britain’s Got Talent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU&feature=related
A voice with clarity, passion and strength……who would’ve thunk it? There stood a middle-aged woman standing before judges and audience who were jeering, rolling their eyes and laughing at her.

While the audience and judges ended up affirming Ms. Boyle and admitted their initial misgivings in what to expect from her, no one ever apologized for their rudeness and insensitivity. Had this courageous woman not had the strength and self-confidence to continue standing before those who were opposing her, whose loss would it have been? Thankfully, the world was blessed in a moment of time when the silence of the unknown voice of Susan Boyle overcame the preconceived notions of her judges.

I remember once in a conference the speaker talked about how people see what they are looking for. He said if they were looking for the negative, that’s what they would see and if they were looking at the same person or situation and looking for the good, that is what they would see….you see what you’re looking for! I have learned……he was right.

The value in people and relationships should not be like the hair style in yesterday’s high school yearbook that we would not dare wear out the front door today. Our support and encouragement of people should not come and go as hair styles and trends. Do you find yourself vacillating in relationships from the role of supportive friend/helper to disgruntled, looking for the negative counterpart? One day you are the spring gently feeding new life into the river of friendship and the next you are like the tornado that twists small transgressions into unrecognizable bits of truth, hearsay and back-biting.

Before with holding or removing your support of an individual or changing your mind and view of someone ask yourself, “Are my thoughts in line with the character I know this person to have, in the recent past have I offered a word of encouragement or an act of kindness, have I asked this person if there was anything specifically that I could be prayerful about in his/her behalf, what is your motivation, would you want the same conversation to take place about yourself? If you have not done these things, be careful. You have not fulfilled the law of kindness to the one whose character, self-esteem and possible livelihood that you may be destroying.

Remember how Hagar ridiculed Sarah and Sarah ended up sending her away? What an example of how our words and attitudes can have wide-spread repercussions. In contrast, think of Jesus and the woman at the well. His words were used to lovingly reprove and brought about healing. One woman was removed from her master’s house; the other was welcomed into the Master’s kingdom.

It may help you to sit down and write down on a piece of paper two or three positive attributes of a person you think negatively about. Seek God for forgiveness and thank God for those attributes in behalf of that individual and then when the right opportunity comes along be as quick to affirm that person as you were to being negative. And then, again, thank God for the opportunity to encourage. What better way do we have to be Christ-like than to build up one another?

Viewing the video of Susan Boyle makes me wonder, how man “Susan Boyles” have never been discovered because they don’t “look” the look? Or how many people with incredible offerings of talent have never given it because they don’t possess the courage that Susan Boyle displayed and have never been encouraged along the way? The world can use more of this beautiful spirit displayed and even more the support and encouragement to those around us, those to whom it is in our power to look beyond what our eyes can see into what is in the power of possibility.

Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Dear Lord, forgive me for looking down on your creation with negative thoughts. Please help me to honor you with the words of my mouth and the meditation of my thoughts being acceptable to you. Thank you that you are my strength and my redeemer. Amen