What’s Your Perspective? Shifting Views for a Life Beyond Limits
Nehemiah 10-11; 2 Corinthians 4; Proverbs 12
Guest Post: Marcia Thorsell
I found Chapter 4 of 2 Corinthians to be chocked full of gems; however, when I got to verses 16-18, I was reminded again of something that really works as we walk this life out.
2 Cor. 4:16-18 TPT So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day. We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison, because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
We all know friends, family, or it may be you that have been through unimaginable tragedy and hardship, and we wonder how on earth they can carry that weight. Or maybe it’s the smaller “troubles” that are getting to you, like problems at work, paying the bills, relationship issues, problems with kids, to name only a few. Well, these verses, my friends, are the key to making it through when you feel like you can’t endure one more day, when you can’t even get your breath, when fears and tears are overtaking the majority of your daily minutes, when worry and anxiety are all consuming.
These verses (slight, short-lived troubles) aren’t meant to deny someone’s pain. Its meant to give us hope! Simply put, our trials, hardships, tragedies, and hurts are real, but compared to what we will experience when we go to heaven for eternity, this life is just the blink of an eye! I know this to be true and can testify that this change of focus works.
We all have a perspective, a way of seeing everything. Usually it comes from our childhood and our experiences. They become the lens that we look at everything through. For example, the perspective of one who had a wealthy family as a child verses one who grew up with lack will color the way they see jobs, government, taxes, material things, even relationships. The person who goes through abuse or a hurtful divorce will have a very different perspective on marriage than the person living out a loving and healthy marriage.
This means the Christian who looks at life with an eternal perspective will handle difficulties, whether big or small, differently than the Christian who looks at life only through this earthly reality based on what our five senses signal. Most people, even Christians, consider what we see, smell, hear, taste, and touch to be their reality. What this passage is asking us to do is live with a heavenly reality as the superior reality. This means fixing our thoughts on the unseen rather than the seen.
My husband, Mark, wears a band on his arm that has this verse on it.
Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.
Now what is significant about this is that my husband has had Parkinson’s Disease for 15 years. He had to retire early, can’t drive, can barely walk, needs help with most things and struggles to move at all as well as dealing with constant pain. All this with a diagnosis (in the natural) that it is progressive and incurable. He’s my hero and I want to grow up to be like him!
My point is….this is how he makes it through the day…by getting his mind off of his situation and putting his thoughts on the face of Jesus, on the realities of heaven, on eternity in the presence of God. I never see him cry over his difficulties, he never complains, and he walks with the Lord, in the Word daily, even though it has to be audio now because he can’t see to read. As he changes his focus, the reality of eternity overtakes this temporary life and suddenly every issue is much smaller when compared with a very big God and a very long eternity with Him.
Now let’s talk about me! I am his wife and partner for 39 years..and I am his caregiver. I’d love to say that I live out this passage always, never complaining, never feeling sorry for myself, never grieving for the life I thought we would have at this age, never dwelling on the last 15 years as the years from hell….but I can’t! However, I can tell you that when I do take my thoughts captive and set my mind on things above and imagine heaven and imagine the face of Jesus and imagine eternity, everything changes. My attitude shifts, a smile returns, the joy of the Lord returns, I’m no longer the grumpiest person on earth, I become someone you could live with, all because the reality of my eternity overtakes this present and temporary reality. There’s an old hymn that says “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
Friends, this is true. I desire to walk in that reality every minute! I want to encourage you with whatever hard thing you are dealing with. Try it….it works! Remember the goodness of God in your life, imagine the face of Jesus, imagine heaven! I’m telling you, you will feel the peace of God that passes all understanding.
Isaiah 26:3 KJV Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Faith is seeing what is not there. We are using our faith to set our minds on things we cannot see as opposed to the things here that we can see, and that faith is producing hope. It’s easy to love God and be full of joy when things are good……but when everything hits the fan and you are “in it,” this is our lifeline. This life is a blip in the light of eternity. Our life with a span of decades, compared to …well, forever! Suddenly things won’t seem so overwhelming. Maybe you will be able to breathe and find the joy we are supposed to have while in trials. It works for me….when I let it!
Oh God, give us glimpses of heaven and help us live this life with an eternal perspective. Help us to walk out our assignments well while here….but oh how we long to be with You!
Deepening Faith: Reflective Journal Prompts
- Reflect on a personal hardship or “slight, short-lived trouble” you’ve faced. How can shifting your focus to an eternal perspective change your view and emotional response to this difficulty?
- Consider the statement, “This life is just the blink of an eye compared to eternity.” How does this perspective influence your daily choices, priorities, and interactions with others?
- Marcia mentions the importance of setting our minds on things above, not on earthly things. Journal about what “things above” you can focus on more in your daily life. How can this shift in focus impact your overall well-being and faith journey?
- Reflect on the role of faith in seeing the unseen and how it produces hope. Can you identify a situation where applying faith to focus on the unseen rather than the seen changed the outcome or your attitude?
- Marcia’s husband, Mark, finds strength in focusing on the face of Jesus and the realities of heaven despite his Parkinson’s disease. Write about a time when focusing on Jesus and the hope of eternity helped you overcome a challenging moment or season in your life.
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