Your Point of View

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

“Life is a wonderful tapestry that God is working throughout the whole of your life experience.”

My thoughts today are about “your point of view.”

With each year I live, I more strongly believe that so much of everyday life depends upon your point of view more than your present circumstance. A person is prone to interpret a given moment without viewing the broader context. Life is not a single, momentary experience but a wonderful tapestry that God is working throughout the whole of your life experience.

I enjoy the beauty and artistry of oriental rugs. Consider that the intricate design and exquisite merging of colors is the final product of its many individual threads, every one of them essential, not a single one extraneous.

While visiting Turkey a few years ago, we visited a place where fine, expensive rugs are hand made on ancient wooden looms. I stood alongside an artist weaving one of those rugs. Her hands moved swiftly but deftly, the ultimate design being translated from her thoughts and intent through her hands. I didn’t know what she had fully planned; I didn’t really understand what she was doing or how she accomplished her task, yet she worked busily and happily according to a design unknown to me yet foreseen to her.

That seems to me the way that God works. What if you saw your life from God’s point of view, rather than your own or others? Eternity reduces the magnitude of the moment, putting the present into its proper perspective. See John 13:7 NIV. Might troubles seem less than they first appear? Or disappointments smaller? Or delays less trying? Or failures less final? Or demands less urgent?

If you look carefully and listen intently, you can see God at work for good in everything that touches your life. Read Romans 8:28-29 NIV. It is not good when bad things occur and know this with certainty, God does not cause them, yet in God’s grace there can be good in the worst that happens to you. You can see obstacles or opportunities, problems or possibilities, setbacks or stepping stones. It all depends on your point of view.

In High School English Literature, I learned a poem that comes to mind.

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines, Of never failing skill. He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread. Are big with mercy and shall break, In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain. (William Cowper, English poet, son of an Anglican clergyman 1731-1800)

My prayer for you today is: remember the context of life and see God there at all times.