|
|
|
Dear
brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity
for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So
let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in
character and ready for anything. If you need wisdom, if you want to know what
God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent
your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer,
for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and
tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from
the Lord. They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in
everything they do.
(James 1:2-8 NLV). Last week I met with an architect from Cadillac. We are in the process of design for a new showroom and service drive for our dealership. The first hours of our meeting were introductory to our facility and the surrounding businesses. We talked about future potential and growth and which direction we felt the business was taking. Then it was time for him to put some ideas on paper. It was quite interesting to watch him work as he prepared some architectural illustrations. The first thin he did was to lay out the “perspective.” This is where he chooses the particular vantagepoint from which he will present the delineation. After that decision is made, he draws it up and paints it as if the building were already built, complete with full-grown trees and landscaping. The perspective determined the rest of the building. Many times, when anxieties arise in our lives, and when difficulties are looming, it seems as if there is only one possible view of them, and that is not a positive one. While driving back from Ft. Worth
recently I was thinking through a particular problem. It seemed I heard the Lord
say, "What do you see?" My response was very easy. All I saw were the
bugs splattered over the windshield. Then it hit me! While I focused on the bugs
I was missing everything else beyond! My perspective was wrong. What determines your perspective? It often comes from how you have educated your mind and your spirit. Feeding your mind habitually on television and other world-oriented sources will determine the point of view from which you see life. God, on the other hand, has laid out the proper perspective for us in His Word. Learning to take advantage of this provision through reading and meditation alters the way we see things; it alters our focus. This new power of being able to see circumstances in relation to the overall eternal picture begins when we change our minds from going our own way, or the way of the world, and turn to follow Jesus Christ. Like the architect, when he makes a choice of which vantagepoint to take when laying out the architectural rendering, we too may choose the perspective in which we see our circumstances. What will your choice be? Will you too see the splattered bugs and miss the landscapes beyond? |
|
