8

Perspective

I have been doing a lot of pondering lately (could be the source of my headaches as of late – LOL), and after listening to a particularly powerful sermon one evening, I came to the conclusion that we need to change our perspective.

I watch, see, and listen to many people I know get farther and farther into a negative and hateful attitude. Much of it is at life in general, but a lot of it is directed at God and the things happening in and around the world today.

For instance, one cannot live a positive life while maintaining a negative attitude. Therefore, if you are continually talking negative things it would seem that negative things are going to happen to you. However, if you speak positive things, then positive things will happen. Now, don’t misunderstand me…I am not saying that things are always going to be sunshine and roses, or that nothing bad is ever going to happen. What I AM saying is that if you will change your perspective instead of focusing on the negative things, they won’t seem, or get as bad as what you initially thought they were.

It all boils down to whether you are blaming God or praising God. Because let me tell you from experience that as long as you blame God, or anyone else for that matter, things just aren’t going to get any better than your right now. You will not look forward to tomorrow. You will not see the good in anybody, or anything. You will not even enjoy getting up in the morning because you will dread it.

Change your perspective and all of a sudden, you will see that God is working in, around, and through you to create something wonderfully beautiful. When you change your perspective, you will also notice that the very thing you thought was something bad has turned into an opportunity for you to share Jesus with someone else; to let them see Him working in your life. It might even be the difference between someone coming to know Him, or even coming BACK to Him.

Look at Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery. He went through a lot of bad things, but kept his  perspective through all of it.

I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. ~Genesis 45:4b-5, NLT

All because of perspective.

Look at Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus. She lost her perspective for just a bit. However, Jesus helped her to put her perspective where it belonged; on Him…

But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” ~ Luke 10:40-41, NLT

We can’t expect anything to change in our world, our homes, our families, and even our own lives until we change our words, actions, and our perspectives. When it comes right down to it, a lot of the misconceptions about God are due to perspective. All because we would rather see negative instead of positive.

God is Love. He is all about love. Everything He has done in our lives is because of that love. Why then, would we want to blame Him for the bad things in our lives? Perspective. It’s all about how you look at things.

Today, instead of looking at the negative why not see the positive? Change your perspective and see what happens.