Perspective

Sometimes we lose our perspective. We make “mountains out of mole hills,” as the expression goes. Although I believe that everything in life has significance, we need to weigh things in the light of eternity. Now that’s a difficult thing to do, since we have no concept of “unendingness” outside the realm of time.

We recently flew from Los Angeles to Denver on an amazingly clear day. We could see the ground the whole time. We flew over deserts that looked like blankets, canyons that resembled slight indentations with shadows that made an interesting design. Mountains rose up like jagged bumps, small from our perspective of 35,000 feet in the air. The unique patterns etched on the surface of the earth were fascinating to me. A work of art that I will never forget.

And why is it that it felt like we were moving at about 5 miles per hour when actually the airplane was cruising at over 500 miles per hour? We could never do that on the ground. Strange that things change so much when we get away from earth’s boundaries.

So do you see why I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective? Things look different from a distance than they do up close. And things feel different when we overcome gravity and apply different laws of science. All of these were ordained by the Creator. He is the only One with perfect perspective. Perfect vision. Perfect understanding of how all things relate to time and eternity.

I often pray that God will give me more of His perspective. That’s the only way things make any sense. And even though I will never totally understand His whole plan and how things fit together, as long as I live here on earth, I can learn more and more about this dilemma by studying his Word and listening to His still, small voice as He speaks to my soul. Things that look like mountains impossible to climb can become beautiful ripples in the long term scope of life.

What problems loom so large to you that you cannot see a way over them or through them? There’s an old song that says: “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. He does the things others cannot do.” Can you trust Him today with the mountains and the valleys in your life?