A New Perspective

A shiny penny winked at me from the pavement. As I stooped to snatch it up, I realized it was embedded in the asphalt.



I
puzzled over the penny. This was my regular walking route. I had
literally traveled this same path thousands of times. Why hadn't I seen
the penny years earlier?



Then it dawned on me. Since we had
recently changed homes in the same neighborhood, my return route had
been altered by one block. In other words, I could see the penny now
because my perspective had changed.



Our lives are much the same.
When we're going through one of the many storms of life, it can be
difficult to see things that are right beneath our feet. Only later,
after the seas have calmed, can we look back with fresh eyes and see
from our new vantage point the good God has produced from the raging
waters.



Consider the story of Joseph. What a storm! Envied by his
brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned. I'm sure he
had trouble understanding why! He spent thirteen years of his life in
prison for a crime he didn't commit. But God had a purpose for it.



He
(God) called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies
of food; and he sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave. They
bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he
foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true. The
king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made
him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct
his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom. (Psalm 105:16-22,
NIV)



If you're in the midst of storm-swept seas, trust the
One who has placed you there to accomplish His good and perfect work.
Allow His furnace to prove you true. Know that one day you'll be able to
see it all from a new perspective.



Father, teach us
that so much of what we complain about and question is simply a matter
of perspective. Help us see Your hand in everything that comes into our
life--both the good and the bad. May we trust You through every
circumstance. In spite of his difficult life, Your Word tells us that
Joseph was successful because You were with him in everything he did.
Grant us the same testimony. May our lives be successful--not by earthly
standards, but by Your standards--because of Your presence with us and
in us. In Jesus' name, Amen.