“The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself,
the more energy you will have.”
~Norman Vincent Peale
Going Upstairs by Valerie Everett
Life is all about perspective. Why is it that a person riddled with cancer with only months to live can experience a peaceful life while a millionaire living in a high-rise New York apartment can commit suicide? I believe it can be reduced to one idea: future perspective.
Think through the following scenario.
You have two men who are going to work hard labor for one year. You tell one man that he will work 12-hour days, 6 days per week and at the end of the year, you will pay him $12,000. How do you think this man will work his job? It will almost certainly be reluctantly and with a bad attitude.
You tell the other man, however, that he will work 12-hour days, 6 days per week for one year, but at the end of the year he will receive $10 million. Do you think he will have a good attitude throughout the year?
What’s the difference? Of course, it’s perspective. It will be easy for the 10 million dollar man to wake up with a smile each day and work as hard as possible. He knows what lies at the end of the journey.
Such is our walk with Christ.
When we keep a future perspective (eternity with Christ), we are better able to endure the hardships, setbacks, and challenges of our day-to-day life. And, make no mistake, whether you are a Christian or not, you will experience deep hurts, challenges, and trials as you walk through life on earth.
Life has a way of wearing us down and causing us to lose focus. Have you ever experienced a financial challenge and run this scenario through your head: this unplanned event has caused us to experience a financial setback, we’ll go into debt and never be able to catch up, they’ll foreclose on our house and then we’ll have to move in with the in-laws.
If you’re like me, you tend to run the worst-case scenario through your mind. Do you know that it doesn’t have to be like that? This is a choice.
God’s word says that we can have a future perspective. This is not an empty hope – it is a hope built on the truth of God’s word. He is in control of every single area of our lives. Does this mean that life on earth is easy? Of course not. Anyone who argues that Christians should always be happy and blessed are not reading the same Bible that I read.
Life is hard whether you are a Christian or not. The difference is that a Christian has a solid foundation and a future perspective that should shape our current challenges. This future perspective does not magically happen; rather, it is a result of prayer, Bible study, and spending time with God.
You do not trust someone that you do not know. This is true with our relationship with God as well. The more we allow ourselves to spend time with God and know Him, the more we will trust Him and keep this future perspective.
Today, live with this future perspective. It is not easy and takes a daily recalibration. But, it is possible when we know our Creator.
QUESTION: How do you maintain your future perspective?
Think through the following scenario.
You have two men who are going to work hard labor for one year. You tell one man that he will work 12-hour days, 6 days per week and at the end of the year, you will pay him $12,000. How do you think this man will work his job? It will almost certainly be reluctantly and with a bad attitude.
You tell the other man, however, that he will work 12-hour days, 6 days per week for one year, but at the end of the year he will receive $10 million. Do you think he will have a good attitude throughout the year?
What’s the difference? Of course, it’s perspective. It will be easy for the 10 million dollar man to wake up with a smile each day and work as hard as possible. He knows what lies at the end of the journey.
Such is our walk with Christ.
When we keep a future perspective (eternity with Christ), we are better able to endure the hardships, setbacks, and challenges of our day-to-day life. And, make no mistake, whether you are a Christian or not, you will experience deep hurts, challenges, and trials as you walk through life on earth.
Life has a way of wearing us down and causing us to lose focus. Have you ever experienced a financial challenge and run this scenario through your head: this unplanned event has caused us to experience a financial setback, we’ll go into debt and never be able to catch up, they’ll foreclose on our house and then we’ll have to move in with the in-laws.
If you’re like me, you tend to run the worst-case scenario through your mind. Do you know that it doesn’t have to be like that? This is a choice.
God’s word says that we can have a future perspective. This is not an empty hope – it is a hope built on the truth of God’s word. He is in control of every single area of our lives. Does this mean that life on earth is easy? Of course not. Anyone who argues that Christians should always be happy and blessed are not reading the same Bible that I read.
Life is hard whether you are a Christian or not. The difference is that a Christian has a solid foundation and a future perspective that should shape our current challenges. This future perspective does not magically happen; rather, it is a result of prayer, Bible study, and spending time with God.
You do not trust someone that you do not know. This is true with our relationship with God as well. The more we allow ourselves to spend time with God and know Him, the more we will trust Him and keep this future perspective.
Today, live with this future perspective. It is not easy and takes a daily recalibration. But, it is possible when we know our Creator.
QUESTION: How do you maintain your future perspective?
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