Perspective is a weird concept. I googled the word and wikipedia told me that it “may refer to” and then listed these categories: literally in visual topics, metaphorically in relation to cognitive topics, mathematics, and entertainment. Yup…pretty useless. Let me know if you figure out how to make sense of that. Illusive concept! Now I may have discredited myself already by using “googled” and “wikipedia” in the same sentence, and TOTALLY understand if you choose at this point to tune me out and find something more “legitimate” to occupy your time with, but I guess that’s just your perspective!
Ok, here is why this concept is fascinating me so much lately. I am now sitting at $6,300 in support (crazy!). I have $200 more to go before I hit the big goal of $6,500, which is the minimum we need in our accounts before we leave in July for India. Now $200 is a lot of money, but compared to $6,000? My perspective has seriously been changed since the time all I had in my World Race account was $150. Now before I go on I do not want to make it seem like I feel as it if is a simple matter to give away hundreds of dollars. Even one dollar is HUGE and such a blessing. This is not a post about giving; this is a post about perspective.
Think about it this way. I am a runner. I was not always a runner. When I started running, I could only go for maaaybe 2 minutes before I had to take a break and walk. Slowly but surely my endurance was built up and over years I can now go for quite a while. 3 miles used to be daunting, and now it is a quick jaunt. Some people think I am crazy for even wanting to run and the marathon runners think that I have a ways to go before I can qualify as a true runner.
I think God is in a constant state of pushing our perspective. He is capable of so much more than we could possibly ever imagine. If you limit God to a box, then your perspective of Him will remain in that box.
When we first come to know the Lord, our perspective of Him is pretty small. It’s a little bit of Him and a WHOLE lot of us. As we get to know Him, delight in Him, and spend time with Him we experience shifts of perspective. We start focusing less on ourselves and more on Him. Our passions and desires start lining up with His heart. Our circumstances may not change, but we are no longer inhibited. I never understood the big deal with going to the nations until I stopped reading the bible with the intentions of changing myself, and started reading to understand the heart of the Father. A shift of perspective.
Bottom line: Jesus has already overcome. He has won the war in you. He has made you righteous by paying the debt for your sins. We need to quit focusing on how WE need to change or how OUR circumstances need to be fixed and simply delight in the Lord. He knows what you need. He knows your junk and your mess. He wants to move you into KINGDOM perspective. Where we are declared a HOLY nation and ROYAL priesthood. Where we can ask anything in His name and He gives abundantly.
What is your perspective of God? How has it changed? How a person views the Lord can define the way they live. For non-believers and believers alike it defines your goals, lifestyle, ambitions, plans, etc. It defines the way we pray, give, and dream. Is He a father figure? Then you come to Him with everything. Is He a distant divinity? Then you don’t feel worthy of approaching him.
Ask Him to show you how you view Him… THEN ask Him to change your perspective 🙂
