A Change of Perspective

Today I was going to write a nice, light blog post about spring and decorating. But when the time came for me to sit down and write, I wasn't in the mood for spring decorating.

For me, nothing can guarantee a headache like having to spend an hour on the phone with my health insurance company.

It all began when my pharmacist called and informed me that one of my prescription refills was being denied by my insurance company, and as a result they were unable to refill my prescription. This is a medication that I have taken on a daily basis for a number of years, and have never had a problem before getting it refilled. Thus the necessary phone call to the insurance company...and the four times I was transferred from department to department. Each new person I spoke with required the same information I had already given to the personnel before them, as well as the lengthy explanation for the problem I was having. I gave my information and repeated my situation FOUR times. Did I mention that I had other things I needed to do? I could feel myself becoming tense and short-tempered.

On the same afternoon, in one of the blogs that I follow, I read the moving account of a young married woman, a mother, who is in hospice care and has only a matter of days until she leaves this life and meets her Savior in heaven. She was sharing how it felt to know that the amount of time she has left with her husband and her family is very short. "Our long good-bye was becoming not so long." And just like that, I felt my problems melt away into nothing. Not only are my problems nothing in comparison to what she is going through, but I can actually be thankful for the problems I have. They mean I have a normal, although sometimes chaotic and frustrating, life.

It all comes down to a matter of perspective. Our challenges in our attitudes and our responses stem from our focus. Mrs. Beneth Jones used to tell our group of pastor's wives in her Ministry Wives class, "Where you look determines what you see."

What we choose to focus on determines what we are seeing. If we choose to focus on the problems, the negatives, the uncertainties and the disappointments, then that is all we will see. We will miss the blessings, the positives and the joys the Lord has given us. If you have the mistaken idea that ministry life is filled with nothing but blessings and wonderful things, allow me to set you straight on that. Ministry life, and life in general, is filled with people and situations that hurt and disappoint us. We can become discouraged very quickly by all the sad stories, problems, the wrong choices and priorities of people we pour our lives into, shortages of workers, and a myriad of other things. It also has many rewards and incomparable joys. It is a privilege to serve the Lord. There is nothing so wonderful as when you see people give their lives to God, and experiencing genuine growth and change. There are many blessings - if we aren't so focused on the negatives that we miss them. Our perspective is greatly affected by what side we are looking at. 

We all are in need of a "focus adjustment." I surprised myself when while on the phone I began doodling "this light affliction."  2 Corinthians 4:17:"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worth for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." This is what focus adjustment is about - reminding ourselves that the problems, sorrows, and negative situations in our life, when viewed in light of eternity and what really matters, truly are "light afflictions."

And maybe next time I will post about spring and decorating.

In His Joyful service,

Kathi

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