Back in March when the Saga of the Toilet Paper Shortage was in full swing, I went to various online sites trying to find available TP since none was available in the stores. After diligently searching I found some on Amazon from an associated Canadian business. I ordered a 10-roll pack. The business told me it was mailed but provided no tracking number. After waiting weeks, I contacted Amazon and they refunded my money and told me if the package arrived, I could just keep it.
It arrived, the end of June. I went to my regular-sized mailbox and found a brown envelope. When opened, I found 10 of the tiniest rolls of TP I have ever seen. It was nothing like the picture shown on the website, nor the description provided. The picture and description skewed my perception.
Perception. The English translation of that word is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.
When Paul prayed in Ephesians Chapter 1, one of the things he prayed for was that we might have “spiritual perception.” He prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” [v17-18 NKJV]
The Holman Christian Standard Bible uses the phrase “perception of your mind” in place of “the eyes of your understanding.”
“I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints.” [v18 CSB]
We must have “spiritual perception” to understand the will and the ways of our God. We can use our natural senses, our eyes, our ears to take in spiritual things, but to make them the foundation of our lives and the atmosphere of our minds, we must have the Holy Spirit to plumb their depths. We must cultivate “spiritual perception” by communicating and spending time with the Holy Spirit if we are ever to know the hope of His calling on our lives now and the riches of His glory for our future.
