Perspective!

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

The other morning as I was limping my way into LA Fitness for my water class, it hit me that I have been limping for over ten weeks now, and I began to wonder, “When will I ever walk correctly again after this broken foot?” Just at that moment, a gentleman emerged from the center walking on two prosthetic legs. Suddenly, my perspective changed, and I was grateful for a mild limp! It’s all about our perspective!

Perspective is defined as a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something or a point of view. People with the right perspective have the ability to view things in their true relations or relative importance. My change in perspective gave me the opportunity to see things in light of their true importance.

Randy and I recently flew home from a trip, and it reinforced for me all the different perspectives that face us in this life. When we fly, I always like to sit in the window seat because I think it offers the best vantage point from which to view the world outside. The people on the other side of the plane have a whole different perspective, not better or worse, just different! This particular flight home offered beautiful mountains, green valleys, and vast expanse of ocean which were right within my vision. If a person doesn’t believe in Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and Earth before seeing it from this perspective, you surely will after seeing this sight!

Life is full of chances to think about how we perceive things. Do we see things the way they are meant to be seen or the way we want to see them? What if the things we look at are right, but we are perceiving them wrongly? Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” If we look at our life and see only the failures, look at our families and see only the mistakes, or even look at our face and only see wrinkles, scars, and bruises, then we are looking with the wrong perspective.

We need the right attitudes and actions toward everything in and attached to our lives. The right perspective is God’s perspective. When we choose to see things from God’s perspective, it changes how we view everything. For example, the only thing keeping negative thoughts and ideas in place is the way we think about them. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Psalm 23:7) describes the situation best.

So, how do we go about changing our perspective? The first thing we need to do is to replace our negative perceptions with positive ones. If we deal with the negative the way we might deal with flies at a picnic and just “shoo” them away, our perspective changes from negative to positive. It’s our choice to stay where we are or move forward. Where we are in life doesn’t determine who we are!

We should take time to remember that our condition in life should not affect our conviction. Wherever we are in our life does not stop us from being who we should be for Christ and this world. When John was banished to the island of Patmos and in prisoned for preaching the gospel, he continued his work in prison through preaching, writing and using his gifts. John’s condition was a clear indication that God was changing his perspective. Maybe our condition in life at this point is an indication that God is about to show us something we have never seen before.

It seems that no matter where we drive these days, we find ourselves stuck in traffic especially in this area. People are frustrated, angry, and impatient because we can’t see what’s going on in front of us. Contrast that with the traffic helicopter that can fly above the accident and see what happened, when the accident will be cleared, and how long before traffic can resume. God is like that. His perspective is higher than our accident or condition. He tells us to keep going because things are about to open up for us!

Finally, we need to rejoice. John learned that he was not alone in that prison, God was still on the throne and still with him. Every time we begin to take on the future, we need to recall God’s goodness to us in the past. Shakespeare said, “Let never day nor night unhallow’d pass, but still remember what the Lord hath done!” David said, “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait upon the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.”

Sometimes it’s good to just stop and change our perspective of life. Here is a prayer for every day: God please give us right attitudes and actions toward everything in and attached to our lives.