Having a little perspective, especially on difficult days

Perspective is amazing.  It has the ability to make you feel or look good or bad.  Perspective can make your situation seem better or worse.  Perspective is defined in some places as “the way you see things.”  Life events and experiences help to form your perspective making perspective an individual thing.  Without question, you see things from one perspective and I see them from a different perspective.  Yet we still see things from a human perspective.

Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that even though we are made in the image of God and even though we may choose to follow Jesus by being children of God, that we are not God… not even close.  We are the created.  God is the Creator.  God is neither bound by time nor distance.  And God has a completely, totally, incomprehensible perspective on things.  We cannot even begin to imagine what God sees.  When God made the heavens and the earth, He already knew what today would hold for you and for me (see Ephesians 1:3-4).  And I believe God has used things in our past to prepare us for this day and is using this day to prepare us for things in the future.  Sometimes a day is wonderful and sometimes a day is difficult.  But if we can remember that the God who made us (and sent His Son to save us) has this miraculous ability to bring good from every wonderful and every difficult situation we face (see Romans 8:28)… if we can remember that, then we have a better chance of giving thanks through every circumstance (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18).  And it’s not that we give thanks for the painful days themselves, but we give thanks that God knew this day was coming, has prepared us that we can make it through, is preparing us for future days, and goes through it all with us.  And I hope you can agree with me that we can give thanks for that.