"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be."
- Genesis 15:5
Every day we are faced with situations in life that shape the way we think. It is not uncommon to find ourselves unconsciously forming opinions, ideas, even allowing our thoughts and dreams to paint a picture of how we see things around us. Our initiatives, our inspirations, even our aspirations, are oftentimes founded upon the influence of our surroundings. These are the things that stimulate and motivate us to do the things we do.
Denis Cosgrove, a cultural geographer, defined the concept of our human landscape not in physical terms but as an outward expression of human perception. He identified a cultural landscape as being comprised of more than what lies before our eyes but rather what lies behind our thinking.
Taking into consideration this view of a landscape we must ask the question, "If man is a spirit being, then how does this spiritual dimension impact his perception as far as his psychological observation to a human landscape, particularly once his spirit is awakened with eternal life?" In other words, if we define a landscape as how a person perceives things in his own mind, then what should be the impact of such a view when his conscience is awakened by the light of life and his thinking is influenced by the revelation of the eternal word of God?
Let me put it another way: If a human landscape is an outward expression of human perception, then what do you think would be the outward expression of one who sees things from a spiritual perspective? What "should" happen is it would add a totally new dimension in being able to express outwardly what one holds as true inwardly. It would enable them to bridge the gulf between mind and spirit so that in seeing things differently they would be able to live their life differently.
When God took Abraham out and told him to look toward heaven and tell the stars, it was over the fact that Abraham was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of having a child out of his own loins. The moment Abraham saw what God wanted him to see it changed his entire human landscape. Up until that time, all he could see was the barrenness of Sarah's womb and his own impotency. But something happened inside his heart that changed everything. From that point on, when he looked up into the night sky he saw far more than stars. He saw the promise! He saw nations born out of his side. His field of vision went from hoping for a son to embracing nations as his covenant seed.
Once your spiritual landscape is built around God's perspective, then everything will change as far as your outlook on life goes. Instead of fear and doubt posing a threat to your way of thinking, faith will begin to rise up in you because you will know, on the inside, the sky is the limit!
This is where God wants to take us. It may not be the stars you need to see differently, but you certainly need to see your circumstances differently. Changing your landscape is what is going to change you. It will change the way you think. It will change the way you believe. It will change the way you respond to everything that crosses your path. Your confidence level will soar. You will start getting a handle on how to live independent of those things that want to crowd in on you, as if they at what controls your life. Your ability to see and know by your faith will determine the outcome of your life--not the devil, not circumstances, and surely not people. *
