In our accumulation of years, we encounter more difficulties and carry more scars from life’s trials. Society even pushes us to glorify these things that are certainly just part of almost every life. Social media is rife with people recording themselves crying over their misfortunes, putting victimhood on a pedestal. Some will eagerly retell all the wrongs that have been done to them, wallowing in the suffering from years past and preventing their own healing. Others wear their difficulties as a badge of honor or as an excuse for some bad behavior they choose not to change.
As a surrendered child of God, I know that each pain, difficulty, betrayal, and trial has been allowed by God. However, this does not lessen the pain. Even Job, one of God’s most faithful, wondered if God had forsaken him. His suffering was so great that he wished never to have been born. Reading Job’s lamenting in the beginning of the book, I find his words packed with real-life emotions and relatable humanity. I have been there, crying out to God in hurt and confusion.
In our times of suffering, life feels out of control. There is no order or clear expectation for what is next. This part of life’s trials may be one of the hardest to manage. No one likes to be out of control or to endure that feeling of being constantly unsettled. The worry and insecurity can be all-consuming.
In spite of what we may think in those moments, we do have control of one thing: our perspective. My dad used to say to me when I was young, “Attitude is everything.” Our attitude, or our perspective, concerning our sufferings may be the most powerful thing we can control; and as always, the Bible is the Guide to hone our perspective.
In Numbers 13, Joshua and Caleb brought the good report. They purposely looked at the good. They brought back fruit to show the people and told of a land flowing with milk and honey. We can feel their excitement in verses 26 through 30 as they shared all the wonders of the land with the people. Immediately, Caleb did not hesitate to encourage the people to possess the land.
Let it be said, though, that these two “good” spies were not delusional. I believe this is part of the story that is often left out when it is taught and preached. Yes, Joshua and Caleb did see how strong the people were and how the walls of the cities looked difficult to overcome. They even shared all the various names of the people and where each group was living. The difference was that they saw the good that God saw, which outshone any difficulties. The power of good perspective and looking at their situation how God wanted them to see it gave them the good report.
Unfortunately, the “bad” spies shared zero good. Their report put nothing but absolute fear into the hearts of the people, causing them to forget all the good things Joshua and Caleb described. The beginning of chapter 14 might be one of the biggest failures of perspective (and one of the biggest overreactions) in the Bible. Talk about high drama! I often feel so bad for Moses as I read of how he dealt with all the dramatics of the Hebrew children and of the many times he had to beg God to spare them from complete annihilation for their rebellion.
Chapter 14 contains the devastating results of the ten spies’ poor perspective. While that chapter could be a whole study of its own, everything bad that happened could have been prevented if those ten men would have seen what Joshua and Caleb had seen in the Promised Land. Instead, their perspective not only ended in their own deaths but also had shattering consequences for everyone under their influence. They failed to see things as God would have had them see things. They did not realize the big picture but just panicked at the immediate, acting on their feelings and the “what ifs.” Instead of allowing faith in God to carry them to victory, they chose to see the worst-case scenario, which happened to have a complete absence of God. They lost the power of good perspective.
Helen Keller said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.” A woman who was blind and deaf, living her entire existence in darkness and silence, had harnessed the power of her perspective.
Friend, you may not be able to control your health as you would prefer. You may have no power over those loved ones who have disappointed you. You may not be able to prevent the pain of loss or hurt of betrayal. However, you most certainly can control your outlook. Your attitude is your responsibility, and while it may take much prayer and time with God to keep it right, you can find victory in this one thing. No matter how out of control life becomes, you still hold the power of your perspective. You choose: Will I see it through my lens of humanity or through the lens of God?
II Corinthians 4 is a great reminder in the midst of life’s hardships to try to understand God’s big picture for my life. I read it when things get heavy to help keep my perspective right. The final verse punctuates the chapter perfectly, refocusing my perspective on what God wants me to see: While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
by Tracie S. Burns
