West Isn't West to Everybody...

...Actually, yes it is, but not everything is the same to every person or even to the same person at a different place or time.

Perspective is extremely important, that's what has been on my mind for about the last 25 minutes.  At Abilene Christian University, there is a statue called "Jacob's Ladder" and perspective is really important with it.  There are a bunch of hidden cross shapes created by the negative space left by a bunch of seemingly randomly placed stones.  If the viewer isn't standing at exactly the right place, the cross isn't visible and all that can be seen is a jumbled mess of rocks.  Just as it is in art, perspective is unbelievably important in life; if we aren't in the right place, we can often completely miss what God is trying to show us.

Perspective can be gained and changed in many different ways.  Travel often alters and expands our perspective, experiences, relationships, and conversations can all change perspective, even an encounter not longer than a few seconds can change perspective.  These can all be effective perspective changers, but I think the single most consistently effective perspective changer is time.  Of course, all of these other things fit inside of time, but sometimes perspective won't expand or change until a while after a particular encounter.

Right now is the point in my blog where I feel like I have typed a lot of words without really getting anywhere. So here it is; things that were once seemingly the end of the world, can be seen as the biggest blessings of our lives, IF we allow God to change and mold our perspectives.  What if the curse becoming a blessing is not only applicable in SOME things but in ALL things? What if every thing that I have ever perceived as a "bad" experience has really been a blessing?  I think if I were to "Count my many blessings" and "Name them one by one,"  people might think I was missing the point of the assignment when I started naming off fights I had lost, mistakes I had made, and bridges that had been burned.  Truth is, I think negative experiences and mistakes I've made that God has allowed me to live through are often greater blessings than some of the unwarranted positives of my life.  Here's how perspective fits into it; mistakes and other bad things foster growth in perspective, and perspective illuminates the positives that have come from the negatives.

God holds the ultimate point of perspective as He sees all time at once and knows all that has been and all that will be.  I believe this is exactly what Paul meant when he wrote this to the Romans; "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  EVERY SINGLE THING that has EVER HAPPENED to me is being worked by the CREATOR OF ALL THINGS for MY GOOD.   That is one powerful concept. It's also a concept that has been right in front of my face lately, even literally, like someone held "Romans 8:28" RIGHT in front of my face last week.

Now I understand what it means.  It doesn't mean at ALL that everything that ever happens to me will be good, not even close.  What it means is that God knows what he is doing and that even the things that seem so inescapably wrong and bad are probably happening so that God can bring us through to a better place.  This is pretty massively outlined by the Israelite's trek from Egypt to Canaan and out of slavery. There were few of them who did not complain and wish to go back to how things were before in Egypt as slaves, but God brought them through the wilderness to the promised land.  God did not want them to dwell on the past and what might have happened if they hadn't left Egypt, He wanted to show them that even though it might seem rough in the journey, He always has something better in mind.

So basically what I'm trying to say is this; if things seem wrong or off, or if you feel deserted by God, remember that God works ALL things for the good of those who love him.  He doesn't make all good things happen to those who love him, but he makes ALL THINGS GOOD for those who love him.

All I can do is keep chasing him and pray that more negatives from my past will turn up positive just like they did tonight.

And I realize the title of this post won't make sense to 95% of you... deal with it.