Change Perspective

 

 

The thought has occurred to me

That nothing ever changes,

That perhaps it is one’s perspective

That someone rearranges?

 

Like a fish attracted to the bait

I have begun to nibble,

Please don’t be too quick to dismiss it

As unadulterated drivel.

 

Look at the vicissitudes of life:

Do they ever change?

Or might it not be in actual fact

Your thinking was rearranged?

 

Take the loss of a loved one

Or a terminal illness,

Processing alters the perspective

And reduces the stress.

 

“It could have been worse”

How often have you heard this?

Again, the perspective changes

As the consolations you list.

 

 

In life, it’s about perspective:

Having a different vantage point,

We reflect on an event differently

But it’s the same account.

 

We pray for things to change

But quite, often they do not,

We may work around them or accept

That they just may be our lot.

 

I have also recognized

That I bring some things on myself

And, accepting this perspective,

Relieves me of my stress.

 

Having come to this conclusion

I dare to alter my course

And top it off with the perspective,

“It could have been worse.”

 

For as long as we are alive

Diverse challenges will come,

We can adopt a positive perspective

Or attempt to from them run.

 

The latter will invariably fail

We cannot outrun life,

It would be better to adopt the former

As best to deal with strife.

 

Christians are quick to pray

When difficulty comes their way

As though God is unaware

Of what they face each day.

 

According to God’s divine power,

He has given to us all things

That pertain to life and godliness

What more do we need?

 

 

Therein lies the perspective:

The vision that God gives us

To look difficulties clearly in the face

Minus the unnecessary fuss.

 

We daily pray for guidance

God has given it,

We pray for help in time of need

God has promised it,

We pray for comfort in our sorrow

God has supplied it,

We pray for strength in weakness

God has granted it,

We pray for peace midst turmoil

God is our peace.

 

He supplies our every need

And works things out for our good,

And yet we press panic buttons

Like a lost child would.

 

We become unsettled and ruffled

And we scream and shout at God

As though He is not near

And may have travel abroad.

 

Like many who make promises

And after cannot be found

Making them that they promised

Look like a circus clown.

 

 

God is not like men who lie

But He is the faithful promise keeper,

Who backs Himself by Himself

And always He delivers.

 

Hopefully, you can see

On what you need to focus,

Let God inform your perspective

And eliminate the fuss.

 

Stewart Russell © December 13, 2021