Perspective

"Perspective is never just what you see.

Perspective is how you view

what you see." ~ Tony Evans

From my perspective, things can look distorted or overwhelming or never-ending.

I recently read an interesting example of this: Two mountain climbers looked at the mountain they were about to climb. They spent all day climbing up the mountain. Finally at the top, the exhausted younger climber said to the experienced climber, "We finally made it to the top!" The experienced climber pointed over the other climber's shoulder and said, "No. This is just the top of the first hill. The real mountain is over there."

Life challenges are often like that climbing experience. We're anxious to get to the "end of the road" or the "top of that hill" so that we can see what's on the other side, move on, and enjoy the view from the top. The climb can be exhilarating at times and other times it's simply exhausting. We finally get to what appears to be the top of the mountain only to discover there's still more climbing to be done.

From the climber's perspective, life (problems or the future) can seem impossibly far, unbelievably high, or much too big. God has a different perspective than we do. I've touched on that subject before on this blog. From His sovereign position, God is able to see things from a much different perspective. He can see from the beginning of time to the end; the past and eternity at a glance.

It's hard to imagine that perspective with this human mind. Centuries are like the blink of an eye to God. Gigantic mountains are little more than an ant hill from God's perspective. Evenso, God understands our limitations for understanding this perspective. After all, He came to earth in the human form of Jesus Christ to live among people. Gratefully, He extends mercy to us when we whine and complain about those mountains and long journeys. 

Once again, it seems to boil down to a matter of trust. We have to trust that God knows what He's doing, that He's equipped us for the journey, and that He's right there climbing with us just like that experienced climber in the story. We have to see things from God's perspective and if we cannot see the path before us, we have to trust the Lord to guide us step by step.

"Trusting the Lord means looking 

beyond what we can see to what God sees. 

David won the victory against Goliath—an

experienced, intimidating warrior—because

the young shepherd saw the conflict from the God's perspective." ~ Dr. Charles Stanley

Mount Goliath is intimidating. It's often more than a day's journey. It can stretch into weeks, months, or even years. The climb becomes so tiresome that I'd rather just camp out at the top of the hill I'm already on (or even turn around and go back). After all, the view on this hill isn't so bad. But...

I know God has a better view in mind for me. I have also learned that if I stick close to my Guide, He is more than willing to encourage me the whole way. I couldn't make it up that mountain without Him.

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides

in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, 

for apart from Me you can do nothing. - John 15:5