One of my favorite old movies is Pollyanna. Pollyanna had a positive perspective of life that eventually rubbed off on an entire town. I’ll never forget her “glad game.” She could always find something positive about a situation, no matter how bad it might have looked. For instance, she had asked for a doll for Christmas, but instead, got a set of crutches. When asked what was good about that, she replied, “I didn’t need them.”

Perspective influences how we respond to life situations. Do you tend to look at life from an eternal perspective or from an earthly, temporal perspective?

An earthly perspective says, “I want to stay in my comfort zone.”
An eternal perspective says, “This is stretching me, but I trust God’s hand in it.”

An earthly perspective asks, “What’s best for me?”
An eternal perspective asks, “What’s best in God’s bigger plan?”

An earthly perspective focuses on self.
An eternal perspective focuses on God.

An earthly perspective has limited vision. It’s the here and now that matters.
An eternal perspective has a broad vision. In light of eternity, what really matters?

An earthly perspective listens to the world.
An eternal perspective listens to God.

An earthly perspective walks by sight.
An eternal perspective walks by faith.

We can get discouraged when we look at life from an earthly, temporal perspective. Paul reminds us to keep an eternal perspective in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

“Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

My tendency is to look at things from an earthly perspective, but my desire is to view life from an eternal perspective. I can’t see God’s bigger perspective from my earthly view, but I have to trust that He sees the big picture of all that is going on and He knows what He’s doing—for my good and for His glory.

What contrasts between an earthly perspective and eternal perspective would you add to the list above? What helps you focus on the eternal?

Photo by Aaron Burden from Pexels

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