Perspective

I have been whining lately, wallowing in my own little pity party and it all boiled down to two things. Not trusting God and choosing to see things from my own perspective instead of His. I was getting so well-practiced at seeing things from my own perspective, I didn't even realize that was what I was doing... and even when I wanted to see God's perspective, I was unable to.

Thankfully, God is merciful. He moved in my heart yesterday, preparing me for His message today.

This morning, our pastor gave several examples of seeing things from God's perspective (that's when I realized how far off-base I had gone). They convicted and encouraged me.

Here are some of them:

1. When someone hurts us, it is natural to want to return the favor or withhold forgiveness. That is our human perspective. God's perspective is for us to embrace the trial, to look for the good God is accomplishing through this. (Count it all joy when you meet various trials... James 1:2) Is the Lord teaching us patience, frugality, or perseverance through this trial? Is He helping us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Is He drawing us closer to Him so that we can know the Lord and His truths in a deeper way and be better able to communicate those truths to others?

2. When someone who is younger dies or someone is sick(younger being someone who hasn't lived as long as we generally think we should live--it could be a child or it could be someone who just hasn't, in our view, reach the point of having living a long, full life), it is often natural for us to think it was unfair or unjust, to blame God, to think those left behind got a raw deal. But if we look at this loss from God's perspective, we can learn that what seems important is not what is truly important. We can learn to value relationships and the 'little things' more when we experience an 'untimely loss'.

3. When children misbehave or are strong-willed, it is natural to fuss at them and to get frustrated. Sometimes we might even curse them in our frustration, unintentionally tearing them down. Our pastor told of how he once accused one of his sons of 'being like a bowling ball'. When this son got in an accident, he told his dad he was nothing but a bowling ball. He gave examples of how we could, instead, look at the positive side and encourage or praise our children. One little boy brought a bug to him and after they 'freed' him safely outside, he encouraged that little boy and told him how he was going to grow up to be a mighty man, a protector of all those around him. The little boy beamed!

I will need lots of practice to renew my perspective, but I am convinced that it will be worth it!

What helps you the most to keep God's perspective during life's trials?