What is your perspective?
From the passenger seat of our car, a field of golden-coloured corn stalks caught my attention. Brightly standing out against the dark grey clouds hovering over them, I commented about their beauty to my husband. He, however, had focused on the threatening clouds and not noticed the cornstalks.
Where our eyes and hearts focus makes all the difference to our perspective in life. Are you focused on what is threatening and fearful or the beauty and joy of life in front of you?
I find it all too easy to get trapped in the cycle of revisiting all that could go wrong or have gone wrong in the past. Like the sound of a car trying to make traction in mud, my thoughts buzz around in my head. And like the stuck vehicle with its wheels madly flinging out mud, those contemplations coat my heart and soul with more layers of fear and anxiety. All the while, my wheels get deeper into the rut.
Instead, we need to change our perspective. We need to take our eyes off the mud and look up. What does God say about you? What has He promised in His Word, and what has He blessed you with already? Taking our eyes off the dark threatening clouds and turning to the golden stalks helps us shake off the mud of needless fear and anxiety.
You are deeply loved! We have a relationship with the Lord because of Christ’s crucifixion.
Psalm 139 (NIV) is a beautiful description of how intimately God knows us. One of my favourite lines is verse 13,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Have you ever seen a picture of the DNA strand? It looks like a row of knitting or a chain of crochet. Our beautiful Saviour formed us link by link precisely how He wanted us. Soak that up, Sister!
You are unique. You are not a mistake. No matter what the world tells you. You are like that beautiful golden corn, meant to stand in stark contrast to the darkness around you and show the hope of Jesus.
We already have all that we need! Ephesians 1:3 tells us, as believers in Christ, we already have all the spiritual blessings of heaven at our disposal. God’s grace, wisdom and strength are ours for the taking through faith and prayer.
How often we forget these things! As Francis Chan says, we have “spiritual amnesia”! Our perspective gets skewed by focusing on the difficulties and our abilities instead of Christ’s.
You are not alone, even as you sit reading this. No matter what your circumstances are. Again, in Psalm 139: 5, we read,
“You hem me in – behind and before;
You have laid your hand upon me.”
His hand is on you. There is never a moment in your day or night when the Lord is not with you. Oh, how I need to remember that! What about you?
It’s so easy to focus on the mud isn’t it? It’s so much more tangible. For this reason, we need to fill our minds with the Word and preach it to ourselves every morning and night. We need to encourage one another with it, listen to music, and watch shows about it, to change our perspective and cause us to look at our present blessings, the primary one being our personal relationship with the Creator of all things, Almighty God. Because of that, nothing else matters.
Where are your eyes and thoughts focused, Sister? What is your perspective today? Look at Jesus and shake off that mud. Remember who you belong to, who has His hand on you, and stand like a golden stalk in the power of that knowledge.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made and loved!
Be well!
Patricia
BIO:
Patricia is a wife, mother of three handsome sons, two loving daughters-in-law, and six beautiful grandchildren who bring her joy! Discovering a love for the written word as a young girl, Patricia found freedom for her introverted soul in writing through journaling, poetry and short stories.
She has served on the women's ministry team at three different churches and led many Bible study classes in the thirty-plus years of her walk with Christ. Her heart's desire is to share the hope and freedom found in knowing her Lord, Saviour, King and very best friend, Jesus.
You can find her on her website: patriciaedwyer.com
