Written by Diane C.
Have you ever wondered why some people have a tendency to be pessimistic (glass half empty) and others optimistic (glass half full)? I believed and confirmed that you are born with a tendency toward one or the other. I learned that optimistic beliefs are associated with activity in the left-hemisphere of your brain and pessimistic beliefs with the right-hemisphere.
I also believe that life experiences influence the way you look at things. For example, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we receive the gift of perspective. I have never really stopped to think about perspective being a gift, at least not consciously, but I am so thankful for that gift!!
I am going to share a true life situation that happened when Greg and I went with Phil and Brenda to move Zach and Lindsey from Oklahoma to Tennessee. (That was a mouthful!) If you care to share, I would love to hear your initial reaction when you read the situations!
Let me set the stage. We were pulling a 26-foot trailer believing that it would only be half-full, because they did not have that much to move.
Situation 1: As we were moving stuff out of Lindsey’s apartment and loading the trailer, we soon realized that there was not going to be enough room for everything and we would need to put some things in the bed of the truck.
Situation 2: Driving down the interstate we had a major blowout. The blowout was so bad we couldn’t change it on the side of the highway so we exited at the first off ramp we came to.
Situation 3: We could not risk traveling without a spare tire so we had to buy a new one.
I am a pretty optimistic person but without the gift of perspective, I don’t know that I would have seen how God used those situations for our good and his Glory!
This is what I was able to see because of the gift of perspective:
1. How blessed were we that it was the spare tire and jack we put in the back of the truck and that they were not buried under boxes in the trailer! We were not thinking about a blowout when we put them in the back of the truck, that was ALL God!
2. There was an exit right where the blowout occurred and a Walmart store across the highway. What are the chances of getting a flat tire by an exit ramp by a Walmart? Again, all God!
3. We met a beautiful young lady selling items outside of Walmart to raise money for the program that introduced her to Jesus Christ. She was in the Teen Challenge program and shared her story with us and how much her life had been changed because of her relationship with Jesus. It was a beautiful testimony and she blessed us by sharing it with us. We were all so touched by her story and in awe of how God orchestrated a series of events that led us to meeting her! We prayed with her and left with happy hearts.
Thank you Lord, for loving us so much that you sent your son to die for our sins. Thank you Lord, for the gift of eternal life. Thank you Lord for the gift of perspective, letting us see how you use trying situations for our good and your Glory!
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 — “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 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.”