I’m a firm
believer in the importance of having a proper perspective on life. Bad things can happen when you lose it. Consider Elijah as an example. As recorded in 1 Kings 19 he is suicidal when he flees to Horeb to escape the
wrath of Jezebel. After laying his life
on the line at Mount Carmel, and seeing the power of God demonstrated in an
incredible way, he has watched triumph devolve into disaster. He is once again on the lam. In the loneliness and desolation of the
wilderness, he will moan he is the only one left in Israel who is still
faithful to God – and he is dead wrong. In
verse 18 of that chapter God will tell Elijah there are seven thousand who have
not bowed the knee to Baal. He is not
the only faithful one in Israel. He’s
certainly not the only one afraid and distressed about what is happening. In the midst of this heartbreaking trial, he
has lost perspective.
Through over
forty years of full time ministry, I’ve wrestled with keeping a proper
perspective on life. It’s easy to allow
the critical voices of a few to drown out the loving affirmations of many. Focusing on those who have quit instead of
those who have persevered can bring discouragement leading to depression. It sometimes seems as if the victories are
few and the defeats many. What has
allowed me to persevere through decades of this has been the ability to stop
and put things in perspective.
Jesus
repeatedly touched on this in His ministry.
The Parable of the Soils recorded in Matthew 13:1-23 is an important
teaching on putting people’s response to the gospel in perspective. Our Lord is telling us in the clearest way
possible that three out of four responses to the gospel message are going to be
negative – outright rejection, acceptance followed by a quick falling away, and
fruitlessness. Isn’t Jesus, if we’ll but
listen, preparing us for the fact that most responses to the gospel are
ultimately going to be a disappointment?
That’s not cynicism, that’s the Lord’s reality. If I accept His teaching, it places in proper
perspective how much sowing is going to have to be done to harvest a crop of
fruitful plants. If I find myself
getting discouraged by people’s response to the gospel, maybe the problem is my
failure to accept the Lord’s perspective on that response.
The same
thing holds true with trials in our lives.
James will tell us in James 1:2 to “count it all joy” when trials come
our way. Peter will urge household
servants who are being beaten by their masters to view this as being called by
God to walk in the steps of Christ in their unjust suffering (1 Peter 2:21). Paul will call all that he gave up when he
chose to follow Christ “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8). A proper perspective changes everything.
I really
believe this truth is more important today than ever. It appears as if the United States is heading
down the road toward destruction. The
global situation is a chaotic, violence wracked mess. Churches who claim to be followers of God
are blatantly rejecting His word and siding with the moral relativists who
blaspheme His name. Do we throw our
hands up and give up in despair? Are we
the only ones left?
Please keep the
following truths in mind as you consider what is happening around us:
YHWH is in
control. He is King of kings and Lord of
lords. The Creator and Sustainer of this
universe is very aware of everything that is going on. He has neither forgotten what is right nor
forgotten His people. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar all learned the
hard way who truly reigns in this world – just as Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein
did. Israel, Judah, Assyria, Babylonia,
and Rome are left as examples, if we’ll only pay attention, of what happens
when people turn their backs on the Creator.
Where are the French, British, or Spanish empires now? Remember the
collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? God still rules and He
still reigns.
What if the
drought in the Southwest and the repeated storms in the Northeast are ongoing
judgments from God? They certainly have
a Biblical precedent. What if the sudden
collapse of oil prices is directed by a divine Hand? It has had a worldwide impact on a host of
very bad people. What if we have been given a President we deserve who,
unfortunately, reflects the moral values of the majority? God gave Israel king Saul. What if God has given this country up to the
chicanery of a Congress we freely elected?
Again, I cite the example of Israel and king Saul. What if ISIL, like ancient Assyria, is the
rod of God’s anger (Isaiah 10:5). What
if AIDS and Ebola are but warning shots across the bow from our King? It wouldn’t be the first time He had used
plagues to punish and awaken. What if
His hand is, indeed, mightily stirring in ways we, with our limited vision and
understanding, cannot yet fully comprehend or understand? Are we so egotistical as to really believe
that unless we grasp what is going on somehow God’s hand is slipping on the
rudder? Really???
I love the
message of the book of Revelation. Few
would argue that at its core Revelation is all about the fact that God is in
control and, ultimately, His faithful will triumph. That message is as true today as it was in
the days when John penned it. Those were
dark days. It appeared the Dragon and
his two beasts were on the verge of victory.
Persecution, apathy, and worldliness threatened to tear the heart out of
the church (read Revelation chapters two and three and the letters to the seven
churches). I believe Revelation was
written to give Christians a godly perspective on what was happening, to allow
them to see that not all was lost. It
wasn’t then, and it’s not now.
Please don’t
lose your perspective on what is happening around us. Is it distressing and discouraging? It certainly can be. But that doesn’t mean God is not working just
as mightily and effectively today as He always has. It doesn’t mean it’s over till it’s
over. If you’ve lived any time at all,
you know God delights in surprises. As the old saying goes, we may not know what
the future holds, but we know who holds the future. Please allow that truth to shape your
perspective. It will let you sleep at
night.
Dan Rouse
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