Depth Perception

DEPTH PERCEPTION is the ability of an observer to perceive the spatial relationship of objects in one's visual field of view. 

I was Driving home one sweltering summer night from West Tennessee after battling all day long in the heat and humidity. I was hot, I was sweating, and my hair was a mess. 

I had just completed the last patient visit of the day and honestly, more than my hair was a mess. I had just been wrecked, she wrecked me.

I was scurrying to make it home before the bottom fell out completely. I had rushed out of her house before thanking her one more time for her kind words. The heat had me frazzled; I was so hot I wanted to cry, and I know I looked like Henny Penny just looking up at the sky. The clouds were all racing, and their formation was more huddled than before. 

I was reflecting on the impact of what had just transpired in that visit, I was humbled and in complete humility. Once I entered through the door the sweetest little widow came up and placed her hand over mine. She apologized for the deterioration and condition of her home. My mouth hadn't opened, I hadn't said a word.

She explained her husband had been gone for several years and she had been left alone. She had tried her best to maintain but had grown tired and financially she was in despair. My mouth had not even uttered a word. The reflection on my face must have said it all.

My perception was off.

I vividly remember the pureness of her that I felt in her home. She was the dearest little soul, the one I knew I would never forget. Her character reflected an image that will forever be etched in my mind. She didn't need a mirror for her image to shine. Her reflection carried a light. 

I could have sat and talked with her for hours and gotten lost in her rhyme, but I couldn't sit - it was getting late and the rain had me behind. The drops kept on dripping into a bucket on the floor, the ticking of the clock grew louder, and I was focused on the time. 

I was there to lead an assessment and provide her with care, but she provided me with more wisdom that day than my heart could contain. She was full of joy and breathed words of life into me she didn't even have to prepare. I trusted her, I had just met her, and I trusted her word because she bore an image I couldn't explain. The moments passed by and all I could think about was getting home before the weather worsened. 

My perception was off.

At the time, I didn’t know it was my last assignment that I would complete for her. I didn't know I wouldn't be back, or I wouldn't have been so concerned with my hair.

I didn't know it would be the last time I would be driving that stretch of interstate as a Statewide Travel Nurse Practitioner, but God did. HE placed me on her path that day, she had what HE knew I needed. I was there to lead an assessment and HIS reflection was leading me.

My perception was off.

It was the last day of the six-day stent and the weight of the world on my shoulders was heavy. I was carrying a load that was never mine to carry. I was weak and I had been weary and had prayed for enough strength to get me through. It had been a long and lonely week in that hotel in Jackson Tennessee; I had a thousand things on my mind, and it was wandering all over the place. 

I got lost in the tiny droplets of rain that had begun to drizzle on my windshield. I turned on the wipers and I didn't know if I was just tired or delusional, but I would have sworn with every thud as they returned back in position it sounded like a heartbeat.

Those long drives home gave me plenty of time to reflect on my week, my life, and anything else that popped into my mind; it all depended on my perception at the time.

My perception was off. 

My mind was scattered, and my tears started competing with the rain for distorting my vision. I did the only thing I knew to do...... I began to talk to Jesus. 

There is just something about driving in my car alone in silence that allows my heart to be stilled. I drove for miles and miles that night with the whispering of the wind alone in my silence of self-reflection and praying to HIM. 

As I drove, tiny droplets of rain trickled down my window. The sound of the rain drops pattering as they were dancing on the roof kept time with beat of the wipers whooshing and was producing the perfect worship song.

I began to see the landscape of Nashville in the distance and the sight was breathtaking. I don't know if I had ever been so thankful to be back in Middle Tennessee. 

I was able to distinguish the images through the beaded droplets of rain as I drew closer, but I wasn't close enough to examine the details of the buildings, the overpasses, the high rises, or the lights, but I was close enough to hold my breath - it was absolutely beautiful.

As I approached closer, I was able to focus in and see the cracks in the broken asphalt and that the dotted lines directing my path were dulled.

The beautiful lights I had just seen from afar were a mixture of building signs and highway lights; both were missing parts of their structures that exposed broken bulbs and dim lights. The buildings weren’t as breathtaking as I drew close enough to visualize the wearing down of their external surfaces. I had to get closer, my perception was off.

The closer I got to the scenery, the more I was able to tell about the structures that made up the landscape and I began to judge... my perception was off.

I continued driving and made the turn to merge into the East bound lane of Interstate forty and the reflection of the city was a mere image in my rear-view mirror.

I looked out my window as I began to change lanes and read the words in my side mirror 

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, and it hit me.... 

God sits on high, and HE looks down low, HE sees into our very souls. We are in HIS field of view.

It's all about depth perception and my perception was off.

Everything can appear beautiful from a distance even desolate places until we get closer and able to see the real image. 

We do that to one another too. We create a perception in our mind of who we perceive one another to be and judge by the outer appearance. We have started judging one another based on our hard seasons. If you read 1 Samuel 16 verse 7 you will discover the Lord does not look to outward appearances, but HE sees into the heart of man.

"But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Do not consider his appearance for his height.... his (depth)

This passage of scripture clearly states that HE does not look at things people look at. HE looks at the heart.

What do you see when you look into the mirror of your own reflection...do you judge your outer appearance when the object in the mirror is closer than it appears?

God created us in His image and in His likeness. We are the reflection of Him. We are the objects, and HE is the mirror... HE is closer to us than HE appears.

We have heard our whole lives that our eyes are the window to our soul.

As a man thinketh, so shall he be..... right?

We can easily be deceived by the depths of our own hearts when wounds have been left unhealed. We see through our eyes like a camera through a lens and our filters have been distorted. We have had faulty judgment by standards of false perceptions.

Whatever the posture of our heart in that moment determines how we perceive our reflection, especially if we are using a magnifying mirror. Can I get an Amen Sister?

I have a confession; I walked down the hallway to get my computer and I glanced into the mirror. Initially, I glanced in the mirror to make sure the clip I had just placed in my hair looked cute. My glance became a glare....my perception was off.

What started off as me glancing in the mirror to admire my banana clip handiwork turned into a negative self-image reflection. I was honestly expecting to think girl, you look cute with your hair up like that with your lip gloss on but the words in my heart translated something more like this....

look at this hair; it is just a mess. It's too frizzy and my roots are not the right color.... unless I really love the color gray:)

look at my forehead. I was blessed with a five head and cannot contour it to save my life:)

look at these wrinkles... I sure have a lot of wisdom lines:)

look at these eyebrows of mine- bless my heart. They are the product of early 90's tweezing. Don't judge me it's not my fault....we did not have influencers or brow lamination:)

look at these big eyes. My lashes though.... they are on point:)

Ok. I think that's enough. You get the picture. You see Whatever it is that you do not love about yourself when your perception is off. 

And....my perception was off.

Truth is, we inaccurately perceive our outward appearance, we pick our imperfections apart, and then we judge ourselves through the distorted lens of our heart.

False reality, self sabotage, and comparison have taught us the dirty secret of how to dive deeper than the shallow plunge of judging the self-image of our reflection. Our wounded hearts have learned to see from the view of distorted perception and our past experiences. We begin to see rejection in the mirror in place of acceptance. We see abandonment instead of the mirror of adoption. We see neglected in the mirror of anger. We see unmet expectations in the mirror of broken dreams. No longer are we even focused on our hair or our wrinkles we have graduated to seeing and feeling our guilt, our anger, and our fears.

The list could go on and on but... our perception has been off.

We were created to resemble the image of God. When we see our reflection, we should see that we mirror HIS image and know that HE called it good. We should see the reflection of HIS image in who HE created us to be. Our character should represent HIS likeness and reflect the Love of God as a hub of HOPE for the hopeless. How can we love our neighbor if we can't look in the mirror and love ourselves? 

Driving down the interstate that night, I could see the image of my reflection every time I glanced in the mirror and I could see the cars following behind me. I was thinking about the encounter I had just experienced with that sweet soul. I could see HIM in her image and HE was leading me.

The question then arose in my mind, what example was I setting for them...... I was in the lead. I was the leader... Are you following me? 

What example are you setting to those following you, what is the image of your reflection.... is the depth of your perception off?

When gross darkness covers this earth they are going to be looking for the light to trust the truth. Are we reflecting the Love of God and shining brighter than the lights of the broken world for all to see? They are yearning to see the heart of the Father in you and in me.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

The image in the mirror is closer than He appears....HE is closer than HE appears on your darkest days.

HE sits on high and looks down low and everything within us is uncovered and exposed.

HE knows our reflection and HE knows us from our heart. We do not have to hide any longer behind the facade of who we have pretended to be, it's tiring and causes us to grow weary. Nothing we have done causes HIM to love us any less. Yesterday has been forgiven; it's a day in the past. There is beauty in the broken places. HE knows our true identity and HE still loves us with everlasting love. No height nor depth can separate us from it. Today is the day to be surrendered in the arms of grace. Humble ourselves before HIM to search our inward parts. HE knows us from a distance, and HE knows us from within. It's about perception ... depth perception.

How deep is his love...

The depth of forgetting our sins.

The reflection in the mirror is closer than HE may appear.

Xo,

B~The Girl In The Blue House