Perspective

Throughout different seasons of my life, the LORD will bless me with a particular word that He wants me to fully "get" or comprehend.  Often times, these words present themselves over and over again in my life through circumstances, council, and conversations.  The words become concepts but, eventually, if I allow the LORD to have His way with me, they become convictions.  

Many times, these words come to me and I am offended.  After all, who wants to hear words such as "Submission", "Obedience", or "Brokenness" over and over again!?!  Furthermore, who wants to have these words played out in daily occurances, casual conversations, or simple coincidences?!  But that is how the LORD is with me.  I am hard-headed and He is gracious.   He knows I need repetition, the remedial course, and many, many field trips in order to ultimately learn that His Ways are Higher.  So graciously, He repeats Himself (okay, He repeats Himself over and over again!) until the word sinks into the marrow of my being.  Such is the latest word He has given me ~ Perspective.

This concept of  "perspective" has been making itself known ever so slowly for about 15 months now.  (I told you I was hard-headed and a slow learner).  For many of you, you can figure the math and know that a move to Georgia occurred about 15 months ago.  Of course, when God first introduced this concept of perspective to me, I only wanted the concept of perspective to include staying in Missouri.  I did not want the perspective of moving to Georgia.  I was offended that He would even think of moving me out of my comfort zone.  I fought His perspective on every front.  The battle ensued.  Kicking, screaming, fit throwing, and tantrums at the feet of Jesus occurred all in the name of my perspective.  Yet God persisted, ever so lovingly, to continue to show me His perspective.

It has been stated that there are approximately seven different learning styles.  If my memory serves me correctly from my college years, these learning styles include Audible, Kinesthetic, Intra-personal, Inter-personal, Musical, Visual, and Spatial.  Most people have a dominant style of learning.  Not this hard-headed individual!!!  When I am really needing to be taught something, ALL the learning styles are incorporated!!  God leaves no learning style left behind!  Nope, for me He utilizes them all!!  He has intricately woven the word "perspective" into Sunday School lessons and daily devotional readings.  There have been songs on the radio about gaining a different perspective.  The concept has been sprinkled into conversations with friends and sermons from my pastor.  (My moving kinesthetically...now there is a whole other perspective that not many need to see!)  And just recently, God mixed the idea into a moment that I had with my David and the girls and He allowed us all an opportunity to gain perspective both visually and "spatially".

Over the weekend, we learned of an event that was taking place at Providence Canyon State Park.  The park is about an hour and a half from our house.  We left about 7:00pm...our goal...a night with the stars!!  The Astronomy Department at Columbus State University was hosting a "star gazing event".  They brought out five 10-inch telescopes and one 14-inch telescope for the public to enjoy.  These were HUGE scopes!!  The Astronomy students would locate a constellation and then announce their findings and the general public in attendance would be able to view the stars through the various scopes.  Now it might need to be said here that God orchestrated an incredible night.  It was a new moon (so, no moon in the sky), the sky was void of clouds, and the air was crisp.  Okay, it was cold...37 degrees...but we were blessed with layers of coats, gloves, and hats.  Ashlyn was freezing and Addi was ready to leave her coat in the car.  God met us in the parking lot as we got out of the car and looked up.  We were an hour or so away from city lights.  The park was pitch black which made the stars look as if they were supernaturally closer than normal.  We could actually see depths, dimensions, and layers of stars.  We viewed a dying star that looked like a blue doughnut.  We saw another mass that appeared to be a dumbbell in shape. We saw the Seven Sisters, Pleiades, which was not a mere seven stars, but hundreds of stars making themselves known through the scope.  We saw Jupiter and three of her moons.  We saw "the eye of the bull", Taurus, which was a red star.  All in all, it looked as if we were viewing diamonds on black velvet.  We removed ourselves from the city and momentarily gazed towards the heavens for a different view.

Jupiter and her moons

As we were leaving our visual and "spatial" field trip, we were listening to the girls talk.  They commented on the vast number of stars that they normally see in our backyard and the "gazillions" they saw at the state park.  Comments like "I never knew there were so many!" and "They are so pretty to be just masses of gas!" filtered forward from the backseat.  And then that word "perspective" made its way into the conversation.  Ashlyn mentioned what we...not only people, but planet Earth, must look like from God's Perspective.  Addi stated how big and important we sometimes think we are, but how small we must appear from space.  And yet God knows the very numbers of hair on our heads, just like he knows the sheer number of stars in the heavens.  David brought up the impending move, how it will affect us and effect us, and how developing a different perspective might be helpful.  How sometimes God in His vast knowledge of the heavens sees fit to move us from one place to another so that we might gain insight and perspective into our lives and upon Kingdom ways of thinking.  We talked about how thanks to God, we are moved from one place to another, sometimes unwillingly, but always for our best interest.  Ashlyn interjected that she was NOT going to like moving and that she wished we could just stay in Georgia.  I told her I understood and that I didn't like moving from Missouri or leaving my comfort zone.  However, God may need us to move not only because He needs us to do some Kingdom work in another location, but because He knows what is in our best interest.   I reminded her of the verse in Isaiah 55:8 "My ways are not your ways," declares the LORD.  (I always have to shout the "declares" part!) 

Pleiades, the Seven Sisters

It was here I realized that the concept had become a conviction.  I was teaching my daughters the very thing that God had been trying to teach me.  I realized that taking on God's Perspective is far greater than trying to learn from my own perspective.  On a heavenly, star filled night, I was reminded of my finite thinking and God's infinite ways.  He set the stars in the sky and He knows them by name!  Through His persistence, He inundates me until I am awestruck.  I am simple and thickheaded, yet so loved by God, that I can do nothing but stand in His presence in complete amazement, gratitude, and humbleness. 

And gently, ever so gently, He repeatedly shows me His perspective.