PERSPECTIVE
Have you ever noticed that many circumstances and situations that frustrate are actually a matter of perspective? Many times, emotions can well up simply from a matter of opinion, how one is feeling at that particular moment, and even previous history with the situation. Take, for instance, spiritual warfare.
We’ve been taught that Satan is on the prowl, looking for people to attack and prey upon. I Peter 5:8 in the CEV says, “Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack.” If you’ve heard any preaching or studies on spiritual warfare, the main focus, at least initially, is to get people to open their eyes to the fact that we as Christians do have an enemy, and that enemy is Satan, and he is on the warpath. This is true, but I’ve heard very little about encouraging Christians that with God in their lives, they are powerful as well, and capable of fighting back and winning, not just surviving.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this in the past weeks, and recently came to an encouraging conclusion. I found myself reading in 2 Corinthians 3 and came across verse 18 at the end of the chapter. “And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” That word “transformed” jumped right off the page at me. I took a few moments and allowed my mind to wander with that word, and the thought that maybe God was using the current difficulties to transform me once again into who He created me to be. I began to think about how tired I had become of being transformed; it’s not an easy thing to go through, and felt like a major theme of my life this year. I was tired of being transformed, tired of being worked on, and I wanted a break.
My thoughts then began to run to the military. I began to think of why soldiers with combat experience tend to move up the ranks quicker than those without combat experience (at least that’s what the movies portray! Ha!) Why would that be? Well, I assumed that those with combat experience had the opportunity to learn things that only those who had gone through combat could possibly learn. In other words, going through battle helped them to grow in ways nothing else could. Combat was training them for future battles, decisions, and roles in the military. Combat is not easy (I’m guessing), but what a soldier can learn from that is like nothing they could learn in a classroom or even through other’s stories.
Alright, so now my mind started to run with this whole idea of combat, and who’s responsible for it. Suddenly the question leapt into my head, “What if, assuming I am in the middle of God’s will, all the attacks I’d been feeling were Satan’s retaliations instead of attacks he orchestrated?” In other words, if I was truly following God’s will for my life, then maybe Satan was fighting back instead of initiating the battle! It really doesn’t change the story much, but given the right perspective, emotions begin to change. I immediately began to see myself as someone dangerous, someone (with God in my heart) capable of inflicting damage on the enemy. This thought brought about a sense of pride (in a good way), brought about a quickening in my step, almost a shot of adrenaline if you will. I began to feel better, confident, began to lose that sense of weariness, and started feeling encouraged! I think I finally began to see myself through Christ’s eyes. When He is on the inside of us, and we stay true to Him, we are a force to be reckoned with! And suddenly Isaiah 54:17 came to mind, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” NKJV! PERSPECTIVE! A huge shift occurred in my thinking when I realized that maybe, just maybe, Satan’s attacks were a result of me being in the center of God’s will and were in the form of retaliation, instead of Satan looking to pick up someone who was weak and vulnerable.
My challenge today, what in your life needs a change of perspective? Take the time to think through some things today. Ask God to open your eyes to things you have yet to see. Ask yourself and God if you are in the center of His will, because if you are, Satan has met his match with you and Christ living in you.