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His Name Is
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Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2008

Grace Church of Burlington January 13, 2008 “If you see yourself as prosperous, you will be. If you see yourself as continually destitute, that is exactly what you will be.”                    Robert Collier             Most of us don’t give a lot of time considering perspective. Too often we make up our minds on the way we believe that things are and it nearly takes dynamite to get us to change our outlook or perspective. To choose a perspective then is to choose a value system and, unavoidably with it, an associated belief system.             One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. And the son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we really are."             Perspective can be a wonderful thing! That is, it can be if we will have a Biblical worldview or perspective. It makes you wonder too what would happen if each of us gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.             So what’s been bugging you lately? What is it about your spouse that drives you around the bend? When was the last time though that you thought of their many good points? Those things that first attracted you to them, that made you love them – are probably all still there. But some of their annoying habits really bug you because you’ve chosen the wrong perspective.             What about your children? Do you primarily see their failures and bad habits? Do they have some annoying trait...that perhaps reminds you of yourself? Do you frequently find yourself impatient with them?             This principle holds true in every area of our lives: the weather, our jobs, our houses, our friendships, our neighborhoods, even our churches. Most of us have one or two things in an area of our lives that gets blown way out of proportion, where we’ve turned a molehill into a mountain. So what will a proper perspective do for us?             1) A proper perspective sees problems as possibilities. Chuck Swindoll stated, “We all are faced with a series  of  great  opportunities  brilliantly  disguised  as  impossiblesituations.” The key to dealing with our problems is perspective or, as some would say, attitude. When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they thought, “He’s so big we can never kill him.” When David saw Goliath, he thought, “He’s so big I can’t miss him.”             2) A proper perspective sees people in relation to their potential. How do you see people? Do you see them in relation to their potential? Jesus consistently saw people that way. He encouraged them to become the persons God created them to be. Proper perspective means viewing people in the right way. How we relate to people and how we seek to encourage them makes a difference in the kingdom of God.             3) A proper perspective sees the present in relation to God’s promises. If we’re not careful, we can easily get stuck in the past or even the present. Paul could have been stuck in jail with a “jailhouse attitude” to go with it. He wrote to the Philippians from jail but rather than self-pity, the theme of the Philippian letter is joy. Paul was pressing on toward the goal. Friend, is your mind fixed on things above or things below? Did you know that the thoughts in your mind are more important than the things in your life? We often cannot do anything about the situations of life but we can do something about our attitudes to meet them. What happens IN me is more important than what happens TO me. We must see the present in relation to the future, which is in God’s hands. The most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than what happened yesterday; more important than my bills, my successes, my failures, my pain; more important than what people think about me, my situation, or my position. Attitude is that “single string” that can keep me going, or it can make me decide to quit. Attitude can fuel my fire or destroy my hope. When my attitudes are right, no mountain is too high, no valley too deep, and no challenge too great that I can’t face it with the Lord’s strength.             Friend, let the promises of God speak to your heart. Pray that God will give you the right perspective and see life from His viewpoint.