The proper perspective

Grace and peace to you my friends,

I don't know about you guys but some times I find it to easy to get over whelmed by discouragement and hopelessness when contemplating all of the injustice, wickedness and evil going on in our world. Yes, it's true that God's justice will prevail one day, I have compete faith in that. However, as people living in the here and now, it can be hard to keep sight of the big picture and easy to get caught up in what's going on around us, loosing sight of the reality of God's goodness.

I think the reason we find it so easy to get caught up in the misery of the moment, is that we forget or lose sight of God's goodness and blessings to us, in the here and now. Think of a set of balance scales. If we are constantly loading up one side with all the evil and tragedy we see and experience but don't bother to do anything with the other side, because we're so concerned with the first, we are living blinded to the true reality of our lives. The truth is, wickedness never stands a chance. Let us start by adding to the scale God's goodness and mercy to mankind in general. Who among you, since all have sinned, has a right to even exist? We all deserve God's wrath. Why He hasn't just wiped us all out of existence is due to His loving kindness. Now we could stop right there and the scales would never again be pulled back in the direction of wickedness and misery. More than just allow us to live, God has "dealt bountifully" with us. You and I have been granted immunity from God's coming judgement because of His glorious mercy in sending us Jesus Christ, (assuming of course you are one of His children). That gift of mercy on us is also big enough on it's own to unbalance the scales forever in His favor. Here's another one, think of all the physical blessings you have and enjoy right now. Consider your ability to to love and feel loved, the ability to taste and savor, the ability to read fine works of literature (like this, ha-ha).  Seriously though, God has given you the ability to enjoy and delight in this gift of life and all of it's experiences. How about the ability to be joyful in spite of painful experience. By God's grace alone, I praise and thank Him for this painful nerve disease that He has allowed to plague me. I've never been so close to my Savior and never enjoyed being home with my family so much, it truly is a great blessing in my experience of life (not that I remember to view it that way all the time).

 Someone close to me might have put the "tragedy" of my nerve problem on the misery side of their scale.  But in my experience, and because of my perspective, I would put it on the blessing side. With that thought to end on, I think our perspective and how we use it plays a big role in how we experience "the good and the bad" in this life, how we view the truth of our reality.

This begs the question then doesn't it? How do we gain or maintain the proper perspective on reality?

Friends, all we have to do is follow the Psalmist's example. It quite obvious from many of the Psalms that the Word of God was viewed as a glorious treasure. One to be enjoyed and lived out at any and all cost. Yes we can Lament the evil that goes on around us but we can't stop there. We must follow that thought with thanksgiving for the truth of the promises of God. God has " dealt bountifully" with us, so we rejoice and praise Him for giving us eyes to see the bounty of His goodness. Most importantly we must grow in our knowledge and understanding of who God is and what He has promised. The more we understand the ways of God, the more our perspective will grow to be like His. Isn't that His design for us any way, molding us into the image of His son? The only way for that to happen is for us to make God's Word a priority in our lives. The proper perspective begins with a proper understanding of who God is and who He said we are.

"  How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
        How long will you hide your face from me?
    How long must I take counsel in my soul
        and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
    How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
    Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
        light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
    lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
        lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
    But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
        my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
    I will sing to the LORD,
        because he has dealt bountifully with me."
Psalm 13 ESV

For the Joy of Your Faith and the Hope of His Goodness,
Teagan