Perspective
“The world isn’t falling apart–it’s falling into place.” –Ann Graham Lotz
When 2024 rolled in, I was facing the second anniversary of my father’s death and the very real possibility that my mother wouldn’t be with us for much longer.
I am, by nature, what I would describe as a realistic optimist. I really do want to see the best in others, look for the good in a situation, and plan my day in such a way that I would hope to be an encourager to at least one person.
But life happens, doesn’t it? And it’s not always good, and we can’t always smile.
But God.
One my favorite sentences in the Bible, “But God” reminds us that life may look grim, circumstances may be difficult, or we might just be struggling for answers, but if we would seek Him, God is always there to walk beside us on the journey.
The Bible is not what some would think. It is not just a rule book or a list of do’s and don’ts. It is not just a history book of stories for us to learn from, or words of wisdom to live by. Those things are only part of God’s story. There is disease and war and pain and prejudice. There are heroes and heroines and good versus evil. Real people with real life situations that are miraculous and tragic. Jesus himself came into humble circumstances, was tempted by the devil, was loved and hated, hailed king one moment and crucified the next.
Discovering God’s truth from His Word is an ongoing pursuit. The stories, the lessons we learn and the promises we are given are often revealed over a lifetime of pouring over the words that God has preserved for us for thousands of years. The things I learned as a young adult were only the beginning of the process of seeing things from God’s perspective. I understand things differently now that I did then, and with hindsight I see things that I could of never understood before.
Like parenting. I couldn’t understand what it was like to be a parent until I was one. I thought I knew what true love would look like until I married and experienced it for myself. My mind could only imagine what it was like to lose a parent until I lost one. You get the idea.
Holding vigil at my sweet mother’s bedside for many days, my mind often drifted toward the eternal. Bible truths filled my mind and my heart as I thought about the promise of heaven. Verses that talked about the death of loved ones were not just a theory, but a comfort. God often brought to my mind a song, a Psalm, or another verse that would encourage me and give me hope. Not just hope of healing here on earth, but the ultimate healing that my mama would experience in heaven.
It’s not unusual for us to go through the motions of a day and only think short-term. We live for the moment, or for that day in the near future that we are planning. We might think ahead to plans of starting a family or taking a vacation or making some purchase that we have saved for, but it is not always a natural tendency to stop and consider the eternal perspective until we are faced with it head on. When tragedy strikes, when our heart breaks or when sorrow enters our lives, we can easily begin to think that our world is falling apart.
But. God.
“The world isn’t falling apart–it’s falling into place.” –Ann Graham Lotz
God is there. He is trustworthy. And He knows. Psalm 139 tells us that He knew us before we were ever born and He knows the number of our days–and all that is in between. Because we are His creation, He knows exactly what we need and wants us to seek Him for the answer to that need. This world is filled with so much beauty and so much pain. The enemy is the one who tries to steal, kill and destroy. Our hope is in a God who has power over that enemy and has proven His love for us by rescuing us by way of the cross.
In January I always choose a word to focus on for the year, and when a passage in Psalms that I couldn’t get stop thinking about kept calling me back to it, I began to see the word PERSPECTIVE jump off the page. Read Psalm 73. Maybe you will see what made my heart sing when these two verses became my hymn for 2024:
When I tried to understand all this,
it seemed hopeless
until I entered God’s sanctuary.
Then I understood their destiny.
But as for me, God’s presence is my good.
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
so I can tell about all you do.
Perspective. If I am going to believe that God is Sovereign–that He is all-knowing and all-powerful–then it only makes sense to me that I should have a desire to see things from His perspective. And the only way to gain that perspective is to get in His presence. He is both of those things, but He is also “Omnipresent”, which means that He is not a far away God who is merely observing man’s comings and goings–He is near. He is our protector, our provider, our refuge and our comfort in times of trouble. Isaiah 41:10 is one of many passages that talk of Him “holding on” to us with His righteous right hand.
Do you know God like that? As your good Father who created you and gives you purpose? If not, please consider placing your faith in Him today. You can reach out to me if you want to know how to begin that kind of relationship with Him, or go to my page, “FAITH” and you can read for yourself. Trust Him. Seek Him. Begin to look for His perspective and the world–and your circumstances will take on a whole new meaning.
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Encouragement, Human Interest, Inspiration, Life, life questions
Tagged as: Bible, christianity, encouragement, faith, HOPE, Jesus, perspective, Psalms, Spiritual growth, word of the year
