The Amazing Power of a Different Perspective When Bad Things Happen

I have endured a lot of heartache in my life.

Things have happened to me and I’ve done some things that have devastated me as well those that are the nearest and dearest to me.  Tears have been shed, dark hours spent moodily pondering the meaning of it all with great sadness.  I’ve withdrawn from human company.  I’ve contemplated walking away from it all.  I’ve railed against God and questioned how He could have allowed such things to happen. It’s been bad.  Really bad.

Oh and this is the blessed Christian life.

The incredible grace of God has allowed me to still grow to appreciate that although I won’t have the reasons why and though things won’t always be resolved in a pleasant way, God being with me can do some amazing things on my perspective on things.

For example, being unemployed, for me, was never a delightful experience.  I’ve been unemployed on a few occasions and when I was unemployed as a married man with children it absolutely crushed me.  My sense of manhood and being responsible was inextricably linked with being employed putting in the hard day’s work and having something to show for it, however briefly, in my bank account.  For that to be taken away in what I considered to be harsh circumstances was a painful experience.  Looking at the young baby that my wife held in her arms and relying on the welfare state was very sad for me.  I felt helpless.

As it turned out, experiences like this hardened my resolve about the importance of being able to work for a living.  Funnily enough the job I would take after that was all about helping people prepare for the world of work and be able to assertively make their way in it rather than rely on the welfare state when possible.

Despite that, later on it transpired that this experience of being unemployed was actually another glorious opportunity to be completely dependent on God for provisions.  Yes, I am grateful for the welfare state and what they offered, but for my family to still be maintained and God to still inspire me to do service for Him – and all that under the circumstances I was under was quite something.

The main lesson learnt from these experiences is that a different perspective sees some of those most trying moments as the ones filled with the light of God’s grace covering, protecting and providing for me even when it didn’t appear that way.

It is all down to the amazing power of a different perspective when bad things happen.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd