Monday, January 31, 2011

It’s All in Your Perspective

Years ago, when I was young, my family would gather at my Papa and Granny’s house in Alabama each summer for our annual family reunion. It was a joyous time for me because growing up I only saw my cousins once a year. Now you have to understand, I’m a city girl. Born in the big city of Atlanta and raise a stone throw from town my whole life, so going to Papa’s was an adventure. It seemed like Papa lived 100 miles from anything that resembled a town. There was one small gas station on the highway and that was it. My grandparents lived in what my city friends called “the sticks.”

Entertainment was hard to come by way out in the sticks. My cousins and I had to make up games to play. And we had to do it outside because that’s where- according to my granny- kids were supposed to play.

Some of the greatest adventures were on the side of my Papa’s house, There was a slope that started at the pole barn and went all the way down to the strawberry patch. To us “youngin’s” it was a huge ski slope. We’d take turns ridding down on  pieces of cardboard, trash can lids or what every else we could find that would slide across the green grass. When objects for sliding couldn’t be found, we’d lie on our sides and roll all the way down. It was great fun that kept us entertained for hours.

Recently I went back to my Papa’s house. He passed away over 18 years ago, but some of my cousins own the house now. After walking through the house I wandered outside and stood on the top of that giant hill looking down. I smiled because that hill that was so huge when I was a child really wasn’t big at all. It’s barely a mound. Memories flooded my mind of how big it seemed as a child when in the reality of adulthood is was so small. It was all in the perspective.

In the first chapter of What Happens When Women Say Yes to God, Lysa makes the observation, “When you look at your everyday circumstances through the lens of God’s perspective, everything changes. You come to realize that God uses each encounter you have with Him as a divine appointment.” (page 16)

Last Thursday, we talked about how the little things in our lives can be so frustrating. A slow cashier at the grocery store, the guy that cuts you off in traffic, your boss who wants you to go and do a task you didn’t plan on in the middle of a busy day. We can view these things as annoyances or see them as God does. Divine appointments.

A few years ago, the Pastor called me while on my lunch break to ask if I could take Mrs. Ellis to the doctor. I’ll be honest. I didn’t see it as a divine appointment at all. I saw is as an inconvenience because it took me out of my comfort zone.

First, I didn’t know Mrs. Ellis. She sat on the other side of church and didn’t really come that often because of her health. I not comfortable with strangers.

Second, I would have to drive to an area of Orlando that I didn’t know while relying on someone I didn’t know to give me directions. How lost were we going to get? How many left turns was I going to have to make across four-lane highways? Again, not something that I like to do.

And third, I was going to have to wait for her to finish with her appointment so I could drive her home. I wasn’t thrilled about waiting around for what I knew would be hours. It was Wednesday and I had a lot to finish to  prepare for Wednesday night service.

Nope…. I didn’t see it as a divine appointment.

Well, I survived that trip and many more just like it. She was a delightful woman who I enjoyed getting to know. I would have missed it if I hadn’t stepped out of my comfort zone that first time. She passed away not long after I meet her, but I’ll always remember how her stories touched me.

Divine appointments. God’s perspective. I’ve learned from these two things that my view, my perspective is not always right or best. I’ve learned to step back and look at the situation again. Sometimes a predicament that seems so huge to me is really like that hill in my Papa’s yard. Small. Tiny to God.

I’ve also learned that when a situation arises that I’m not comfortable with I should look at it through God’s lens. Sometimes I can see what God is doing, but sometimes I can’t. I have to learn to trust Him in those times I can’t.

1 comment:

  1. I finally get to post as I'm sitting at the library using 'free internet' gotta love 'free' GOD is GOOD...all the time. I finally purchased the book as I missed ordering it last month and I'll try to blog on it here because it is just another opportunity to know God was/is with me/us. I've only read chapter one but am in love with the book already. I can't wait to keep reading. I hope to start blogging again as I do miss it but if it's hit and miss at first, forgive me cause I'm using options outside my comfort zone too LOL. Thank You Kimberly for being obedient to God's call to start this Book Club and bless so many lives. :-)

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