Photo by Sead Dedić on Unsplash

If we hadn’t had a 4th floor hotel room, we wouldn’t have seen the skittering dance of sandpipers as they pursued the retreating ocean waves only to run away from new waves eagerly chasing them back onto the beach.  It was delightfully entertaining, but only viewable from our higher vantage point.

Higher vantage points help us see the wider landscape. They make it possible to view situations from a broader perspective. We miss out on a great deal by not taking a few steps back or moving to a different angle as we consider views as well as viewpoints. To perceive life’s difficulties with the best perspective, we must move away from the hustle and bustle…the nitty gritty…the muck and mire. When we take a balcony view of situations and circumstances, the higher vantage point prevents us from guessing or making wrong assumptions based on limited information.

I believe so strongly in this principle that I regularly incorporate the theory into my writing. In my Princess Tiara books, Prince B.K.’s virtue is that of perspective.  He teaches young Tiara to step back and view circumstances from a different angle before reacting. Perspective is key to garnering a correct response rather than an impulsive reaction. Perspective requires patience and informs wisdom.

I’m pretty sure I don’t need to tell you that society desperately needs a new vantage point nowadays. Many are imprisoned in dungeons of anger. Others are held captive by chains of fear or confusion. Countless people are trapped in the muck of a “what’s in it for me” mindset. Those who can’t see clearly are vulnerable to forces that relish in deceiving the rigid and the naive.

It’s difficult to see clearly when you view situations from entrenched places.

So, how do we liberate ourselves from the mindsets and emotions that immobilize and deceive? While recognizing the power of emotions and narrow mindsets is part of the recipe for freedom,  knowing Jesus is the primary ingredient. Jesus’ perfect perspective guides us to the right vantage points.

After fasting forty days in the wilderness, satan came to lure Jesus away from God’s perfect plan of redemption (see Matthew 4). It’s interesting to me that two of the three temptations occurred from elevated places (the pinnacle of the temple and a tall mountain).  Perhaps our Savior was helped by having a higher vantage point as He resisted and responded to satan’s lies with truth’s irrefutable power.

Finally, after shooing away the evil one, Jesus descends the mountain and enters a synagogue, determined to guide others to the perfect vantage point. Sadly, the Pharisees and other synagogue officials provide us with examples of fixed mindsets, ruled by emotions and assumptions. Jesus stands before them and reads from the book of Isaiah, basically pulverizing their entrenched viewpoints.

He challenges their myopic perspective by quoting a familiar verse from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2, NASB1995).

And then Christ has the audacity to say, Today this scripture is fulfilled. In that moment, God’s outside-the-box, counterculture plan for redemption would shatter their tightly held beliefs.  Indeed, the truth of God’s kingdom will rock the earthly realm throughout eternity.

You see, it was for our freedom that Christ came. Freedom from emotions that entangle and mindsets that imprison. When we seek truth’s perspective, we are released from bondages trapping us to fear, anxiety, anger, etc.  God’s amazing love and grace creates a straight path to a broader perspective. We can view problems and difficulties from a higher, spiritual vantage point.  Like an eagle soaring in the sky, we discern when to glide, when to dive, when to circle around, and when to perch and rest for a bit.

“Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly. Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary.”(Isaiah 40:30-31, NASB1995)