Perception is the key. . .

For the majority of my life I have never been concerned about my eyesight.  I have had better than 20/20 vision for the better part of 40 years.  I have been told constantly by those who are older than I that the moment I turn 40, it's all down hill, but as of yet I still have no problems with my sight.  My wife and son, on the other hand, are different stories. 

Both Davina & Jordan have been forced to wear corrective lenses (either glasses or contacts) for as long as either of them can remember.  I never even stopped to think about the qualifications of the eye doctor making decisions about my families sight.  We went to the eye doctor, he said they needed glasses, he determined the proper prescription of the lens necessary to correct their sight, and we took the green slip of paper to a retailer who then shaped lenses to fit that prescription.  From that process my wife and my son gained a different perception based upon the eye doctor's prescription.  If you've ever seen an eyeglass prescription you know that a numeric value preceded by a positive (+) or negative (-) sign determines how the lenses are shaped, assisting with ones ability to see properly, correcting either farsightedness or nearsightedness.  None of this was of particular concern for me until today.

My son went for his eye doctor's appointment today.  After his examination, the doctor told my wife and son that he was never to put those particular glasses on again.  Apparently when they were made, they were made to the wrong prescription.  The doctor who wrote the prescription misplaced the sign.  In other words, my son who is far-sighted has been wearing glasses made for someone who was near-sighted for over a year and a half.  He's had headaches, his eyes have hurt and this past baseball season, although he took his glasses off when he played, because of the prolonged usage of inappropriate eyewear, his depth perception was inhibited and he struggled to hit the ball with any consistency.  His perception was determined by simply a positive OR negative denotation on a prescription.

Now once my blood stopped boiling and we determined where the fault lies and restitution is in the process of being made, I began to thinking how much our perception is determined by a positive OR negative outlook on life.  If you are someone who is constantly dwelling on the negative things in life then your perception on every event, every action, every relationship is going to be tainted toward the negative.  But if you tend to see things in a positive light, your perception improves.  The negative view causes you to be near-sighted in life, focusing on all the minutia, becoming critical of everyone and everything around you.  But when you have a positive perception, you are able to see the big picture.  You can see God's hand at work, preparing you for things that lie ahead, even when up close things may not always appear that way.  Our perception is the key.

So - are you viewing life from a myopic near-sighted perspective, only seeing the problems and issues that you are facing right now.  OR are you looking through positive eyes, faith-filled eyes, where you are dreaming of a future that God is preparing the way for you to inhabit.  It may be time for an eye-check.  You may need a new prescription and if so, make sure that you don't ever put the old one back on.  Let God's perception of your life become your perception and it won't be long before you will be walking in the favor and faith of a greater future than what you can see right now. 

God bless you as you look ahead to a great future that God has planned just for you! -- RP

The Delicate Balance of Spring

This morning as I rode into work, I noticed the beautiful signs of spring.  The buds of new life breaking forth from the crust of winter on the trees.  The fresh sprigs of green grass breaking through the hard surface of the ground.  Dandelions and tulips breaking forth from bulbs buried deep under the ground.  The fresh white blooms of pears and dogwoods dotting the landscapes, perfectly pushing past the wintry gray of a season soon to end. 

For many spring represents new birth, rejuvenation, new life.  We are surrounded on all sides by fresh and new.  It seems to bring hope and renewal and with it, many find that their spirits are lifted and they feel a sense of encouragement that has been missing all winter.  AND YET, as encouraging as all of the new life seems to be, there are many who dread the beginning of spring, because with it comes stuffed heads, runny noses, headaches, scratchy throats and itchy runny eyes.  At my home, I love the spring, but my family suffers all around me with the pain of spring.  Allergies affect so many people as pollen begins to blanket the world, many suffer from reactions to the necessities of growth all around them.  It is certainly a delicate balance between the joy and pain of spring.

The same is true in our spiritual lives.  As we go through seasons of growth and new life in the kingdom of God, we struggle with the pain of the growth.  With every struggle comes strength and so just as the dandelion must break through the crusty ground to beautify the landscape, so we must struggle to break through the old man, our sinful nature, or even our old way of thinking.  As we struggle to break forth, there is pain in the struggle but the joy of spring lies just beyond.  As a baby struggles to be born, it causes pain to the mother, but once having received that new baby in her arms, she would never regret the pain of the moment.  We are the same.  Once you experience God's best for you, the pain of getting there will pale in comparison to the glory of His reality in your life.

I once heard it said that "Pain is inevitable. . . Growth is optional."  We're all going to struggle.  We're  all going to go through painful circumstances.  But we choose whether we grow from them.  I choose to embrace the new life of His presence and spring forward into God's best for me.  "If any man is in Christ, He's a NEW creation.  Old things are passed away and all things become new." 

Enjoy the warmth of the coming days.  Notice God's handiwork all around.  Enjoy the growth that is taking place.  Recognize that some of us may be suffering through (with red noses and watery eyes) but soon we'll all be basking in the sunshine of His greatness as His best in played out all around us.  God best to each of you!  -- RP

Restoration - Rebuilding on the Broken Pieces of Yesterday

Why is it that we have such a hard time believing that God is capable of restoring or bringing back what once was?  Why do we have such a tough time believing that God is able to take the broken pieces of yesterday and rebuild something even greater than what once stood on the heap of ruin?

In the 30th chapter of Jeremiah, the prophet, as he watches his once proud and great nation be led into captivity and the once great inpenetrable walls of his great city, Jerusalem, torn down and destroyed, begans to speak the words of the Lord to His people.  He tells them that because of their failure, their sin, they will experience pain and punishment, but it will only last so long.  The day would come when he would bring back out of captivity this great nation and he would restore health to them and he would heal all their wounds, and because she had been an outcast, God would bring her back.  Then in verse 18, he says ". . .The city shall be built upon its own mound. . ."

 Years later, Nehemiah is a cup bearer in the palace of a Persian king.  The king notices that Nehemiah is not his normal happy self.  Rather, he seems disturbed, discouraged, downcast, beaten up.  The king calls him in and asks, why Nehemiah is so low in spirit.  Nehemiah explains to the king that the capital city of his homeland lies in ruins and has no walls to protect it.  With the blessing of the king, Nehemiah returns and begins an amazing restoration project, that Jeremiah had prophesied would come to pass years before.  Nehemiah goes and he rebuilds the walls of the city in an amazing feat, but what fascinates me is the fact that he used the broken down burned out pieces of the previous wall to rebuild the wall that stands to this day. 

Isn't it just like God to take the discarded pieces of a broken life and allow it to become a blessing that touches future generations?  When he chooses to restore, he doesn't do it halfway.  Rather He takes the pieces of our greatest failures and disappointments and builds again on what was destroyed.  Have you ever considered that Peter, God's man with the kingdom keys, when he fell into sin and returned to his fisherman's lifestyle, was found by Jesus?  And when He found him, he doesn't punish Peter but rather reassures his love for Peter and puts him back on the job.  From Jesus-denier to Pentecost preacher within 50 days.  But what I love most, is the fact that God allows Peter a second chance to proclaim his knowledge of Christ.  Where he once denied he even knew the man, 50 days later, he proclaims him both Lord and Christ and when others felt the same conviction that he felt 50 days earlier, he knew exactly what they needed to do to find exactly what he had found - the restoring hand of Jesus Christ. 

Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth, says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  I've often wondered why it seems that I bump into people all the time who have struggled or are fighting battles that I've already fought.  I believe that Jesus rebuilds with the broken pieces of our life so that when he, having put us back together, brings broken people to us, we are then able to follow His lead and offer the same restoration and comfort and healing that he once gave to us. 

Nehemiah never forgot what it was like to rebuild walls out of broken pieces that lasted.  Peter never forgot what it was like to be restored as a fisher of men.  And I don't ever want to forget what it feels like to experience the forgiveness of God and find His hand of restoration taking the broken pieces of yesterday's failures and building a future that will, in faith, touch the lives of others to come.

May God bless you all!  I hope to not be so long between postings.  It's time for me to get started doing what God's gifted me to do more often and I hope that it will be a blessing to each of your lives.