Believing Affects Seeing

There is a well known phrase, “Seeing is Believing” which means that when we see something with our eyes we will believe it.  It is a “show me” mentality.   But one of the verses in today’s reading got me thinking about turning that phrase around a little.  Let’s read Proverbs 12:12-16:

The wicked covet the catch of evil men,
But the root of the righteous yields fruit.  13  The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
But the righteous will come through trouble.  14 A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth,
And the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him.  15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But he who heeds counsel is wise.  16 A fool’s wrath is known at once,
But a prudent man covers shame.

My focus is on verse 15.  Why is the way of a fool right in his own eyes?  Why is it so beneficial for us to listen to the voice of others, to “see” things through the eyes of others?  I think this is so important because “believing affects seeing”.  What we believe about a situation affects what we see.  For example, if you know someone who is an honest, godly person, and you see him take something that doesn’t belong to him.  You would probably not “see” him as stealing, but rather as borrowing or taking to replace it.  Your belief in who he is affects what you see him doing.  The same is true with God’s wisdom.  If you trust in and believe God, you will “see” the words of God differently than someone who doesn’t trust and believe in God.  The fool sees things through his prism of foolishness.  It seems right to him but if he were to view the same things through the eyes of others, he would “see” differently.

Let’s not forget that “believing affects seeing”.  Let’s rely on God and others to help us see things in the right way.

In wisdom,
Eric