The lion is the king of the jungle.

I was very enlightened one day while listening to Dr. Myles Munroe talk about the spirit of leadership. During his presentation, he mentioned that the lion is not the strongest in the jungle, nor the biggest, nor the fastest, nor the smartest, nor the cleverest, nor the wisest, nor the most organized, nor the most resilient, etc.

I realized for the first time that the lion is not objectively superior to all other animals. I realized that the elephant, for example, is objectively stronger than the lion. The real measure of strength between the two animals should give the preeminence to the elephant. So how is it that the lion is nevertheless the king of the animals? The answer to this question was given by Dr. Myles after he explained that when the lion looks at the elephant, what he perceives is: “food.”

When the elephant looks at the lion in turn, what he perceives is: “danger.” The lion is therefore the king of the jungle because of the nature of his perception. The example of the lion clearly shows us that it is not reality that makes the difference, but it is perception, or the way of perceiving that reality, that makes the difference. This means that it is enough for elephants to train themselves to perceive lions as prey for them to gain dominance over them.

The Valiant Hero Called Gideon One day, God, wanting to deliver His people from the hands of their enemies who were waging relentless war against them, decided to choose among the children of Israel someone who would lead the army into battle. His choice fell on a young boy named Gideon.

When the Lord announced to Gideon that he was the one qualified to lead the army to war and achieve victory, Gideon immediately and rigorously declined this offer, claiming that he was unworthy and very incapable of accomplishing this mission. What Gideon did not know was that God perceived him as a valiant hero. God perceived him as a very strong and very courageous man, endowed with superior leadership abilities.

The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’ Gideon replied, ‘Pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, “Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.’ The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’ Gideon replied, ‘Pardon me, my lord, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.'” Judges 6:12-15

Gideon was in reality a valiant hero, but his self-perception was so erroneous that he was leading an ordinary existence while his people were being tyrannized by their enemies. It took God Himself to persuade him to change his perception for things to change. Gideon did not need to change his reality. It was enough for his perception to change for the enemies of his people to capitulate before the hero within him.

A Crisis or an Opportunity?

In the consciousness of some peoples, a crisis is an opportunity. This means that when the media, for example, announce an economic crisis, the members of these communities perceive an opportunity to increase their wealth. Where some people are depressed because of the crisis, others rejoice and set ambitious financial goals.

In one of his books, the American pastor Joel Osteen tells the story of fishermen who wanted to export cod to all other states in the United States. The challenge these fishermen had to overcome was delivering the cod alive, as the flavor of this fish deteriorates quickly once it dies. The fishermen decided to transport the fish in tank trucks filled with water. Upon arrival at their destination, they were surprised to find that the fish had died on the way. The fishermen decided to try again but filled the tank with water from the natural environment of these fish. Once again, the fish died on the way.

After days of reflection, one of the fishermen had the idea of introducing catfish into the tank with the cod. The catfish is a fish that attacks cod. By putting the catfish in the tank, the cod were in the presence of a threat. Once the tank arrived at its destination, the fishermen were pleasantly surprised to find that the fish had all arrived alive and in good health. The crisis had been an opportunity for survival for the cod, as it had kept them moving throughout the journey.

I don’t know about you, but this story allowed me to perceive the crisis differently. What we perceive is much more important than what is…

This text is an excerpt from the book “DIVINE PERCEPTION: Perceive Well to Succeed Better” written by Dominique MBOG.

We invite you to read the following article “The Eye Is the Lamp of the Body.

Reality.

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