A Change of Perspective

1 Corinthians 13:12-13 The Message (MSG)  12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!  13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. For a living I design houses and buildings. I enjoy the challenge required to accomplish a good product. There are many days that require you to have a different perspective to make things work so you don't repeat mistakes and find yourself going down the same road. Architecture requires one to be open to options and different perspectives. Let me explain. In order to build something you must have a design and the design requires much thinking, research, creativity and one more thing; taking in to consideration the rules and laws. Some challenges architects face can be anything from terrain to heights, lot sizes and restrictions. Maybe like in Florida a high water table or in Tennessee or California the mountains that seem impassable. Our journey in life is much the same. We can opt to be the builder who goes without plans or hire the architect of our lives; God our Father. He is the author and finisher of our faith. About five years ago I had a dream of my maternal grandmother only followed up by a vision that God gave me. The dream went a little like this. I saw my grandmother praying for salvation of others, but her prayer was for salvation not just for herself or her children but for the generations she never met or saw. Understand my grandmother was the last one of my surviving grandparents and passed away when I was only 9 months old. Shortly after the dream I heard God tell me "Change your perspective." my response was obvious; "change my perspective? What are you talking about?"  Upon the question came the vision. Too often we find ourselves walking through a thick dense forest fumbling and stumbling even wanting to give up in the journey. Then I stopped to realize that God's perspective was not horizontal as mine rather vertical and He sees me as He has assessed the terrain even if I have not looked up. As I sit and think about it I am brought back to a conversation I had with my oldest son about his maternal grandparents. You see they both passed away within six weeks of each other this past fall. My son assumed I would be negative about his grandparents so he did not talk to me about the situation of their passing for about 3 or 4 months yet it was eating at him nonetheless. So when I went to visit in January he asked with nervous apprehension. "Dad," he said, "how did you feel when grandma and grandpa, you know Mom's parents, passed away?" I responded, "K, there is much about your grandparents. There were days we had good times and other times we just didn't see eye to eye, but I choose to remember the good things about them as I miss them." I went on to tell him some things I remembered about them which gave way to the painful sigh yet gratitude for the time of getting to know them. As my son sat there he was at a loss because the response he received was far different than what he expected. He said "Dad I never knew you felt that way about them." As I sat thinking about his response it got me to think that this journey God put us on is not about surviving the pitfalls. No it is about being victorious in the journey for generations to come. Too often we are caught in the here-and-now only to realize that God's plans far surpass us and can be used for future generations. It is so easy to accept the final product and dismiss the process to get there. Just like a house, it takes an architect to put together a plan taking into account ALL things to push out the most beautiful product. Likewise God is much the same taking into account the terrain of our lives, the water levels and restrictions of our lives to bring forth a final product. It is not until we change our perspective and have faith that God can handle our future then we will see the beauty of His final plan for our lives. CAL