Have you ever noticed that two people can go through the exact same situation together and come out looking at it with two completely different perspectives. One persons story may vary entirely from the other, but to them, that is the reality of what actually happened.
Perspective is defined as a particular attitude toward or a way of regarding something. Your attitude toward a situation can either carry you through life with a positive or negative outlook. When your outlook on life remains negative you almost get stuck in a holding pattern unable to move forward.
In the Old Testament God delivered the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt and sent them on their way to the Promised Land through the desert. From the moment the Lord brought them out of Egypt, the children of Israel constantly murmured, complained and spoke unbelief to God’s promise of the Promised Land. Their perspective was that this wilderness place that God had brought them to was far worse than where they came from. God provided everything for them while they were there.. food (manna from Heaven), clothes that didn’t even wear out after forty years in the desert, yet they still had a lack of confidence in Him.
They feared the idea of change and let themselves believe that because there were giants in the Promised Land that it was unattainable. By keeping their eyes on the giants, which in reality was really a combination of their fear of rejection or failure, loneliness, & struggles, they remained lost and in bondage. Their attitude toward their circumstances kept them stuck going around the same mountain year after year when it was suppose to only be an 11 day trip. For 40 years they wandered and complained continually looking back or too afraid to look forward when all the while they could have made it to the Promised Land long ago. 40 years compared to 11 days is just hard to wrap my brain around.
I remember when I was first paralyzed all my family said to me, “don’t worry, you’re so young, who knows what cure they could develop in the next ten years. You’ll only be 26 then” They weren’t being insensitive. They were just trying to help me find a way to deal with it.. to have some kind of hope to hold on to instead of fearing the future. I did hold on to that hope for a short while, but I noticed as some time went by I had developed an unhealthy mindset. In order to not fear what was to come I had my head wrapped up in the hope of a possible future cure while only really living in the remembrance of the past. I quickly learned that that perspective would have me stuck in a holding pattern going around the same mountain like the Israelites instead of really living for today. While I do believe God has the ability to heal me any minute now, my present reality is that I’m not, and I had to learn how to be okay with that. I do believe that one day I will be healed, but my hope is not in the actuality of it happening, my hope is in God. I gave in to the reality of what was and instead centered my focus and hope in Him. He has a plan and a purpose for all this and if I put my attention on Him He will lead me to my own personal Promised Land in His time. Whatever that may be. My job is to walk in obedience and trust Him to lead me where I need to go as I keep my mind on Him, not the negative.
Our mind is powerful and has the ability to lift us up or bring us down. What we regularly think about becomes what is real to us because we direct our focus on it continually. We have to pry our mind away from our problems so we can focus our attention on God instead. Isaiah 26: 3-4 says “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.” Steadfast means resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. To have that perfect peace in the Lord fight for your mind to be dutifully firm and unwavering remembering the positive instead of the negative. Don’t get stuck wandering in your own personal wilderness for 40 years. Make up your mind to change your thinking and live for today knowing God is carrying you through. You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them It’s all a matter of perspective.
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