Perspective

It's interesting to me how I can have a completely different attitude about something depending on which side of it I'm looking from.

It's a sunny 65 degrees today, although the tree branches are still bare. It's beautiful and freeing. I'm beckoned by the dog's leash and my walking shoes. Oh, I just want to be outside. It's warm enough to go for a walk in pants and a t-shirt, without a jacket. Yesterday, I took the dog for a walk, got the mail on the way back, and flipped through my catalogs on the back porch. Spring is trying ever so desperately to break forth, and we all desire it to. At Bible study last night, the hallway buzz was all about how it was still light out during our drive. Not one day goes by without talk of daylight savings time happening next weekend, and how we can't wait for it! It is sunny, warm, and we just want more of it!

I love this moment - this warm anticipation of spring, and summer to come. Part of it, I'm sure, is my body's response to light and warmth - it just feels good. However, I also love the irony of it all. I can't help notice that in just a couple months, 65 degrees will be so very cold. Sweaters and jackets will come out and we will all grumble about the poor weather.

This phenomenon comes up in other areas too, of course. The first snow storm is a joy, but the fourth or fifth one, when the kids will be in school until July, is an irritation. Is the snow not just as beautiful the fifth time as it was the first? A chocolate chip cookie is delectable, unless I've had too many and am trying to lose 10 pounds. Then, a chocolate chip cookie is nothing less of temptation straight from Satan. Is it not just the same ingredients baked the same way?

And the big kahuna... God seems good and loving when all is going well, and when I get what I want, but He seems harsh and cruel when bad things happen that I didn't want. God seems personal and close one day, yet distant another.

In all these cases, the world around me and my God who loves me is the same. It is me who changes and my perspective. This is an area where I differ from God. I am fickle and change my opinion a lot. My truth depends on my perspective. God is unchanging. He is all true all the time. We know from Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." In all of His qualities, He is all of them, all of the time, and always will be. If my perspective changes, it is me who changed, not God. And since God doesn't change, then one of my opinions was surely wrong.

God is the same, and my attitude should be too. God is joy, so I should have joy all the time. God is peace, so I should have peace all the time. Of course, the seasons will change. But, 65 degrees is the same as 65 degrees, and our God is always the giver of joy and peace, all the time.

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.