Perspective

by Barb K. 2011

Do you remember your elementary school art class? It was so cool when you had the lesson on Perspective. You put a point up at the top of your page, and two points at the bottom. Then you connected them, and put evenly-spaced lines across, and you had railroad tracks, looking off into the distance.

It looked that way in real life, as well. Looking off into the distance, you were just sure those railroad tracks met up together eventually. Yet, no matter how long you walked along the tracks, they were always completely parallel.

Isn't that the way life is? We can't really see the "big picture." No matter the day, all we can really see is the little bit of "life" right around us. Jesus tells us to "take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for itself." (Mt. 6:34) Most of the time, what happens today won't be life changing. We're just "doing Life," day-to-day.

When I was in my 20's, so many, many things were "urgent" or "vital," or so I thought. As I look back from the vantage point of my 50's, I have to chuckle a little. You may know the book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (and it's all Small Stuff). It is so true. Most of the things I worried about back then didn't matter at all. Now I see my daughter and daughter-in-law, both with growing families, worrying about the same things.

I see the reason why, in Israel, you couldn't be an "elder" unless you were over 50. That wisdom thing that your mom told you would come once you turned 40? Yeah, it happens. Just keep waking up in the morning. You know the very familiar James 5:14: "If any is sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church." I needed wisdom in my 20's and 30's, and my Mom, Dad, and others I knew that were "farther along the road" were there to give it. It's a beautiful thing.

I watched my Mother through her 50's, 60's, 70's, and into her 80's, grow gentler and more wise. I asked her a couple of years before she died, "Mom, do you sin anymore?" After a laugh, she said, "Well, I still get short with your Dad sometimes. And I think I still judge people too often." I said, "yeah, I just couldn't imagine a situation where you thought it necessary to tell a lie." She laughed again, and said, "no, you're right. I don't do that anymore." She was getting that "small stuff" down. And just because she had lived long enough. Each decade of her life, more "small stuff" fell away, leaving the Important Stuff.

Perspective again.

If our own perspective gets better as we age, imagine what it will be like in heaven, when we can see things from "God's perspective." This is why we can trust Him with the hard questions like Why did someone die so young/lose everything in a fire/God allow a good person to suffer so. Things maybe don't look so "tragic" from God's perspective.

Now think about James 1:5: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God...and it will be given him."

God, who has the ultimate perspective, can help us see the Big Picture.

Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, that You see my life from beginning to end, and in perfect perspective. Help me to remember that the things that happen, whether "crisis" or just the day-to-day, You are using to "conform me to the image of Your Son."

Challenge:
Look at yourself, younger, from the perspective of where you are today. (If you are very young, think about yourself in junior high!) Think about how "urgent" or "tragic" things were that, from where you sit now, seem so insignificant. And then ask the Lord for "wisdom" to see your present life from His perspective.

Barb K. 2011