Perspective . . .

Perspective is a gift. It is often hard to put ourselves in the shoes of another person or to view life from their perspective but life can look very different depending on one’s view of reality.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently as I try to view my life through the drastic changes of the last couple of years.

Friedrich Nietzsche who was a bit of a skeptic said, “There are no facts, only interpretations.” While I certainly don’t agree that there are no facts I do know that most often people’s perspectives are normally based in interpretations not reality or facts.
Abraham Lincoln said, ““We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

So what is your perspective about God? My view of Him has blossomed like a flower that took 55 years to bloom. I want to share some observations from my perspective.

His hands are strong and true and even in discipline they never quit working for us.

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save;  Isaiah 59:1a NASB 

When you realize that you have failed God in some way you can choose to pick up the guilt of that failure and carry it or you can choose to believe God to be who the bible says He is. He longs for us to turn from our sinful ways and to follow Him. He doesn’t play games like a child holding toys above the head of another child to keep him from reaching it. His hands never quit working for you day and night.

He doesn’t have a long memory.

People never forget. Even those closest to God,  the most loving, don’t have the capacity to forget our story or failures. God forgets.He removes them and He forgets them. He doesn’t view us for the rest of our lives through the lens of failure. He doesn’t pin scarlet letters on us for any number of sins regardless of what they may be if we repent and move forward to follow Him once again.

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12 NLT

He never quits listening

“. . . Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1b NASB

I have known what it is to have missing ears. What I mean by that is people I thought would be there “in the name of Jesus” were nowhere to be found. I tried reaching out to one of them who agreed to meet me. He listened to my story . . .paused and said, “What do you want me to do?” “Why are you coming to me now?”  I have never heard from him since. Two other “close” friends talked to me before my failure in an effort to reach out to me but disappeared after the fact. I finally unfrieneded them both on Facebook because I am pretty sure they didn’t want to see my life or know about my future. Having said that let me assure you God’s ears have been attentive and listening. He listens in the daytime and He listens in the middle of the night. He listens when a thousand other people are talking to Him at the same time. He is there. He never quits listening.

He uses other people (sometimes the most unlikely people and sometimes in true friends)

People have the power to give life with their words and actions. They also have the power to destroy with their words and actions. Saying I love you is often fickle and based on conditional love and when put to the test fails. Saying I love you because God is saying I love you through you is genuine and never leaves or walks away. God has used the most unlikely people in my life to minister to me. Not surprising I guess. Remember He used ravens in the Old Testament to feed the old prophet when he had no one else to care for him. Just this past week someone saw me in town and spoke to me for the first time in almost two years. I was amazed on that day how powerful that engagement was. It had nothing to do with what was said and every thing to do with just being spoken to. Those kinds of encounters are God moments.  I never fail to thank God for those moments and I truly believe He orchestrates them.

He longs for us to turn to Him and to follow Him.

The story of the Old Testament could be summed up as God longing for a people to follow Him and allow Him to be their God. It is the story of never giving up on Israel no matter how far they strayed. He did everything He could to get them back. Sometimes He blessed them and reminded them of His blessing and other times He let them suffer but even in then it was with an eye toward pushing them to turn their hearts toward Him. As soon as they even showed a willingness to follow He was waiting for them and blessed them with promises and leadership.

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isiah 30:18 NIV

He knows exactly where you are.

When Elijah came down from Mt Carmel and one of the greatest God moments in the Bible he went into a cave both literally and emotionally.  He checked out and did not want to go on. But God knew where he was and found him. God called him out. God coaxed him out. God commissioned him. God knows right where you are. You may think that no one cares to know your story or know what is happening in your life but God knows and He is not afraid of your failures or weakness. When you realize you can’t do it without God you will be in a place where He can use you the most. Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 12:9 these words:

“ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

Seeing God with a new perspective is a gift that often comes from hardship, failure or testing. Don’t give up. Don’t give up on God and don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on your circumstances or where you find yourself living these days. God will still accept your gifts and use them and He can do with you whatever He chooses to do because He is God. People may judge you but they don’t know your story. They know what they think your story is or what gossips and tale bearers have made your story. But He knows. He knows it all and He wants you to live and turn to Him and to serve Him and allow your future to be even greater than your past. Thank God for new perspective.

This post was a collaborative writing between Fran and myself. So thankful for God’s love, peace, mercy and grace.