Lord, Change My Perspective

When I have eventually admitted defeat and asked for help, the other person offers a solution almost immediately! Why is it that, when presented with the same facts, those whom we ask are able to think of a solution that we could not?

More often than not, it is not because they are much smarter or have any great expertise in the subject. It is simply because they have approached the issue from a different perspective.

A fresh perspective can be a powerful thing.

Many times when I am praying about a particular situation, I am asking the Lord to move and to change circumstances in a way that I think would improve the situation. I am praying from my perspective for an outcome that I think would be best. However, we learn from the Scriptures that often God does not move to change circumstances but, in His grace, allows us to see things from a different perspective.

Psalm 13 opens with David crying in distress to the Lord:

“How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

Habakkuk begins his book in a similar way:

“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?”

Both these men were experiencing times of trouble. They were crying out to God, asking God to move in a way that would relieve them from their troubles and deliver them from their circumstances. So how did God answer their prayers?

David closes his psalm by declaring:

‍“I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me”

Habakkuk ends his book with these powerful words:

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation”

What led these men from despair to rejoicing?

It was not that their circumstances changed dramatically, rather, it was their perspectives.

They had a realisation of who God is and the blessings they had in Him. They had a fresh appreciation of the joy of their salvation and the goodness of God. They stopped looking at the surrounding turmoil and instead looked up to the sovereign God in Heaven.

In the face of difficulties and doubts, it can be hard to see past our circumstances. This was how Elisha’s servant felt in 2 Kings 6. As he surveyed the armies that surrounded them, he cried to Elisha, “alas, my master! What shall we do?”

But Elisha did not pray for fire from Heaven, or for the armies to be swept away. Instead, he prayed for his servant’s perspective to be changed, for him to see things the way Elisha saw them: “Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see’”.

‍In that moment, the servant’s eyes were opened, “and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭6:17‬). The armies of the king of Syria paled in comparison to the armies of the Lord of Hosts!

When we are despairing in the face of circumstances, let us pray for the Lord to open our eyes that we may see that He is working all things together for our good!