Sometimes we need to take the first step

If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed. (Proverbs 29:18)

Seeing allows us to perceive many times, but that is not guaranteed. We could become alert to something happening through our other senses of hearing, touch, or smell, but seeing is what often "connects the dots" for us. Some call this being a "visual learner" - we can read all about some process, but once we see it done a couple of times, we've got it! Without seeing, we don't have the fullest perception. Yet, it is possible to "bypass" this element of perception - functioning pretty well, as a matter of fact - but we miss out on the splendor of color, the mystery of the twinkle in someone's eye, and the awing wonder of following the trail of a jet high up in the sky. We function okay, but we don't "get the full picture" when our seeing is not partnered with us perceiving.

Seeing what God is doing is sometimes one of the hardest things to really comprehend. We often miss his subtle moves simply because we aren't tuned into him as well as we should be. I never actually learned to paint even though I was given great lessons by a woman living at the foot of the Superstition Mountains. Although I was exposed to her work, understood her techniques as she taught them, and had many of the same "tools" to use as she did, I never quite mastered the skill of watercolor. Why? I didn't put that skill into practice. This is often how we miss out on so much God would like to involve us in - we simply don't put into practice what it is he provides in the way of instruction or insight for our lives.

Although seeing is part of perception, it is not the end-all. We have to see and then "attend to" what he reveals. When we "attend to" something, we are taking it to heart. We keep it in the forefront of our minds, allowing the very thought of what has been revealed to permeate our 'spiritual senses'. It means we give service to that knowledge - we invest in it, spend time with it. We may miss the fullness of perception because we "see", but we neglect the importance of "giving service to" what it is we perceive. I know a lot of things about various people in my life - their likes, dislikes, what makes them laugh, what could make them cry, what words shut them down, what words build them up. How did I learn these things? By paying attention to them. How foolish would it be to know all these things and then ignore each and every one of them?

God's place of impacting our lives is at the point of our attentiveness to the details he reveals. Revelation is one thing - action taken upon what is revealed is quite another. If we find ourselves "stumbling around" a little in our daily walk, it might just be related to having NOT "put into practice" what it is we already have been taught. God knowing exactly what he desires to bring forth on the canvas of our lives. He gives us various tools, shows us the steps to follow to allow the creation of his "artwork" in our lives, but if we never pick up the brush and apply a little paint, we will still be blank canvases when it is all said and done! Just sayin!