It is said, “Life is merely a matter of perspective.” It is true that each of our perspectives is uniquely our own. We each have been given different talents and abilities, and by using those talents and abilities we have earned for ourselves a unique way of living. For many, their lifestyle is how they develop a view of the world and the lens by which they see through. But to Christians, perspective is the ability from God to put the things He has given us into their proper place.
Sadly, our perspective is often clouded by the things that we fill our lives with: careers, activities, material possessions, vacations, workouts… fill-in the blank. Sometimes we allow these things to become so BIG in our life that we allow them to determine our perspective instead of God. Sometimes they even become stumbling blocks that obstruct the view God wants for us.
Sometimes, God removes the things that cloud our perspective to reveal the treasures he has placed in our lives, and shifts our eyes to see those whom He holds in the highest esteem that we would otherwise overlook. When one or more of these things are stripped away from us, our perspective changes. We see that the things that we once enjoyed were blessings that others have never known.
In Scripture, we are called to imitate our Savior. When we look at the life of Jesus, we see that He never filled His life with wealth, well-planned social events, and leisure activities. He filled His life with people, the needy, the broken, the “have-nots”. He set his eyes on the things and the work the Father had for Him. He was so focused on doing the Father’s will that He never took the time to look around and worry about the things He didn’t have.
When we open our eyes and see others with His perspective, it brings us to a place of sincere gratefulness for what we have been given. It also brings us to the realization that God wants us to reach out and be a blessing to others who have never experienced the comforts we have.
God has a job for us to do, but first we need to have a change of perspective. We need to see the blessing God has placed in our lives and be thankful, but we also need to look beyond that. We must be able to use what He has given us, to see past life’s circumstances, and to do His work. There is a place in that just for you!