Perspective

One of the most important things in life is perspective.
How we view things is pivotal to the way that we live.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
-Charles Swindoll

Behind the clouds, the sun is always shining.
We just don't realize that sometimes.

When our days are dark, and the sun just doesn't seem to shine, we forget that the sun is still shining.

Like Eve way back in Eden, our perspective is often faulty.
When Satan asked, "Did God really say?" it was instantly a decision of perspective.
What God had said was plain to Eve, but her perspective was off.
Her perspective was off, and she took the fruit, and ate it, and the rest as they say...is history.

Like Eve, we face garden moments every day.
Things don't go the way we want them to; are we going to say "curse God and die" or "when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold?"
How do you respond when things don't go your way?
How do you respond when you lose a basketball game?
Fail a test?
Fail a friend?
Lose a friend?
How do you respond when what you want seems just out of reach?
When your parents die?
When your siblings don't love you?
What do you do when your best friends abandon you?
Or you don't get the job you want?
Or you don't get to do what you want with your summer?
Or you just can't have that relationship?

What do you do?
Where is God in all of that?
Is God still good in all of that?
Of course!
But often, I fail to realize that.
Often my perspective is off.

So for today, I'm simply asking that my perspective be right.
I'm praying for the eyes of Jesus so I can see things like He does.
So I can see through the clouds and see the sun.

Trials WILL come.
Life WILL be hard.
But we can have joy in any moment.
We can have joy in any moment because we serve a God who is always good.
God is a God who loves us too much to give us what we want...
He gives us His BEST instead.
He is working everything out for His great glory in the midst of all of our struggling and fighting.

We often perceive things to be a delay.
When God doesn't answer our prayers, we make it out to be a delay.
But there is no such thing in God's book.
There are no delays when it comes to God.
He exists outside of time, and He is ALWAYS working to accomplish His glory.

Take hard.
Keep fighting.
You CAN have joy in ANY moment.
God is working everything out for His good, and working everything out for His glory.
He loves you too much to leave you where you are...
He will not rest until sin is destroyed from every fiber of your body.
He will not rest until He makes you like His Son.

Our life is a struggle for perspective.
May Jesus give us eyes to see things like He does.
Everything is about His glory.
May my attitude, and my perspective be the way He wants them to be.
May I be able to say thanks and praise God even when things don't go my way.