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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

perspective.

I read this post by Megan last Tuesday and it pretty much took words right out of my mouth.  


[Well, except for the part about sleeping with the lights on for years.] 


I am guilty of putting too much emphasis on earthly things. This was especially true when we first got married.  Being jealous of houses that were bigger than ours, cars that were nicer, couples that could take nicer vacations.  So many things that really weren't/aren't important.  It was easy to get caught up in all the things we don't have.  It still is.  


But, I realized that Satan was just trying to get a foothold.  Anywhere he could.  And I started to fight those thoughts.  Focusing on the amazing life we have.  The blessings we have.  The fact that I am here, on this Earth for one thing.  And one thing alone.  


To serve my Creator.


With my entire being.  Every year, every day, every second.


So with that, my perspective began to shift.  Does this mean that all of the sudden I stopped struggling with comparing our life, our relationship, and our possessions to others?  No.  But slowly that constant comparison has subsided.  There are still times that I wish for earthly things or become jealous of what other people might have.  But I have learned to quickly dismiss any of those thoughts. 




So, after reading Megan's post and realizing how true that was/is for me,  I happened to open the devotional, Jesus: Day by Day, by Beth Moore.  And Day 43 was the next day I was supposed to read.


Here's what it said:


"He turned and told Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but man's.'"  
                                           --Matthew 16:23
All Satan needs to have momentary victory over a disciple is for us to have in mind the things of men.  Satan doesn't have to get us thinking blatantly satanic thoughts to have victory over us.  All he needs is to get us looking at life from man's perspective rather than God's.  But if we surrender our minds to the things of God, we are safe!  We don't have to constantly look out for our own best interests, because He's constantly looking out for them.
What Peter didn't understand is that what may have seemed best in the short run would have been disastrous in the long run.  Had Jesus saved His disciples the anxiety of His betrayal, trials, and death, He wouldn't have saved them at all.
On this earth, I don't know that we will ever perpetually have in mind the thing of God rather than the things of man.  But if we don't make the deliberate choice to have in mind the things of God when faced with our biggest challenges, most of us will probably default back to our natural instinct -- the things of man.
"As heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
                                                        --Isaiah 55:9


How incredible?  That this would be what I would read right when all this was fresh on my mind.  Crazy.


Well, it's definitely something that I've thought about many times since.  And my prayer is that I will make the deliberate choice to have in mind the things of God so I don't default back to my natural instinct, the things of man.


Hopefully it offered your some perspective today.




Happy Tuesday!

7 comments:

  1. well said! i completely understand where you are coming from. it is so easy to look at life from an earthly perspecitive instead of Gods!

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  2. Love this. Love you. HE is pleased with you and your efforts to please HIM. FMIL

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  3. Great post! It really made me stop and think and I realize I'm guilty of some of those things as well. I do try not to let them overtake me or influence me in any way but it's certainly nice to be reminded every once in a while and to know that we are human but we can still stive to be better!

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  4. That was awesome! I think we are all guilty of that at some time in our lives.

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  5. What powerful words. Thanks for sharing. I know worker man's family and have stopped by from time to time. Your blog is so refreshing! Hope to meet you someday! I needed to hear those words today.

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  6. So I am just now getting around to commenting. This was an amazing post! Isn't is amazing how something as simple as blogging can speak to others?? This totally spoke to me, and it is nice to know that others out there can relate to how we feel sometimes. Thanks for posting this!!

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