Perspective is Key

One hundred people can experience the same thing and come away with completely different opinions. This is because we all have unique filters, created not only by our personalities but through our life experiences. In this way, perspective is key.

God created us each to be unique, wonderfully made people with different perspectives, but this needs to align with His perspective in order to show us the truth of what we experience. To see clearly. 

Filtering life through God does not take away our uniqueness… instead it enhances and restores our own unique vision. With Him we can take a better view!

Perspective

Past experiences can become the filter through which everything flows if we let them. Sometimes this filter can be aligned with the vision of God, yet this is not always the case. Many times the things we have experienced create a perspective of cynicism and poor expectations, and it is only by turning to God that this error in perspective can be corrected.

But why is perspective so important?

Perspective is key because it’s the filter through which we view situations. This means that one hundred people could experience the same thing but come away with completely different opinions… and while God created us to be unique, with different personalities, likes, and dislikes, when there is no central perspective there is no agreement. And no agreement can mean that while truth still exists, not everyone can see or understands it. Or in other words, these differing perspectives create individual ‘truths’ that really are not the truth at all… 

This could seriously impact how people view God, His Word, and day to day experiences—not only for non-Believers, but Believers as well!

An example of this could be a reading of the book of Esther. While this is a powerful teaching that displays principles of obedience, prayer, the perfect timing of God, and many other wonderful things, each person is likely going to come away with a different opinion—different takeaways. Several people may listen and filter it through the Holy Spirit more than their personal perspective and therefore come away with a better perspective and fuller understanding of God’s truth…

But what of those who have a filter of unbelief—perspectives that tell them that anything that God has to say is not true? What of those who have had a bad day and decided to filter the story through that; through that skewed perspective? Would they leave with lessons and truth? A better perspective? Or would they cling to their damaged perspective and come away unchanged, or worse still, with a negative view of the Word of God? 

Perspective is key. It does not change what is true, but a good perspective can allow us to see and understand what is true.

A good perspective allows us to:

• understand the truth
• speak what is right
• know if we are being attacked or not
• find the positives in situations
• see ourselves as God sees us
• see others as God sees them
• understand what we should and should not do
• know if something is in alignment with God
• see and hear clearly
• recognize the voice of God
• expect the goodness of God
• see the hand of God
• take delight in small blessings
• find joy daily
• AND SO MUCH MORE!

A bad perspective can distort what we experience, but a good one can filter what we experience through God’s viewpoint—His mind and heart—so we can see clearly. So that truth can be known to us.

God’s perspective is freeing, but how can we know if we are aligned with His perspective? 

How can we exchange a bad perspective for a good one?

Accepting God’s Perspective!

Relationship with God improves our perspective and teaches us to know what is or is not His. This relationship is built daily. Some days this may be in the form of hours spent in His Word, in prayer, praising Him, etc., but for many of us this is a rare occurrence. This does not mean that we cannot still build our relationship with God… we simply have to become more intentional. When we choose to create a relationship with God, He steps in to help. He desires relationship with us.

Even when we are busy from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, we can still create a deeper relationship with God. We can still discover His perspective!

Sometimes we may have to be inventive with how we build our relationship with God, but that is alright. He wants us to spend time with Him. If that has to be talking to Him as we are hurrying to get dressed, sharing a joke with Him while waiting in line, or getting His opinion on what we should eat for lunch… He loves that!

Yes, spending time in the Word of God. In extended prayer and conversation. We all need these. We all have to find time once in a while at least. But we can find moments every day to build our relationship. To have His perspective about what is going on in and around us. These all work toward the goal.

Still, how do we accept God’s perspective—not just in life’s moments, but every single day? In every moment?

While everything from spending time with God, reading His Word, praising Him, worshiping Him, thanking Him, etc., work to shift our perspective to God’s, prayer is a vital part! 

Praying for the mind of Christ so we can see, hear, and speak like Him. 

Praying as Jesus did in answer to His disciples’ desire to know how to pray—Matthew 6 and Luke 11.

Praying for a deeper relationship with God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Prayer does not just serve as a way to ask for those things we want. Prayer serves as a communication with God about where we are, about what we desire… about our perspective. He already knows what we need, what we want, where we are, but when we put things into prayer we are declaring to God and ourselves about our true perspective. We are spending time with God to put things where they can be measured… where they can be found in alignment with God’s perspective, His will, or not.

What we speak. What we pray. They are powerful! 

Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Our God gave us speech, the very same thing He used to create the world. And then He went beyond that to allow us to speak and pray in His name! This is a wonderful gift, and one we need to use correctly because of its power. And to do so, our perspective needs the filter of God’s perspective. We need to see, hear, and experience things like He does!

Curt Landry teaches on the Matthew 6/Luke 11 prayer, uncovering within it certain key aspects. Specifically how this prayer of Jesus’ holds principles necessary for alignment with the Father.

R — Remember 

O — Observe

C — Confess 

K — Keep your eyes on the promises of God

This is the acronym Curt Landry uses to teach this rock solid prayer. In it we are taught that we need to remember the sovereignty of the Lord. That we need to observe and abide by the will of God. That we need to confess our sins just as we need to forgive those who hurt us. And that we need to keep our eyes on the promises of God so that we might not only live in expectation and joy, but so we might also understand the perspective of God…

Through this prayer we turn our attention back to God. We understand the power and wonder of who He is. We lay down our own expectations and perspective for the far greater one of God’s. We change by not only repenting with our lips, but with our actions. We accept the provision God has in store for us—spiritually and physically. We come out of agreement with the enemy. And we discover the perspective of our God!

He is more than willing to shift our perspective to His… but we have to be willing. Willing to ask. And willing to accept it. By doing the little thing, we open ourselves up for God to do the big thing!