Christmas note 2009

Changing your perspective can be an expensive lesson.


God has a funny way of teaching lessons and building our character by simply tweaking our circumstances. For those of us who are stubborn, sometimes it seems that we aren’t truly grateful about our situation until our circumstances change.

We aren’t gratified by our jobs until we are laid off.
We aren’t thankful for our relationships until they are broken.
We aren’t grateful for our wealth until we lose it.
We aren’t appreciative of our homes until foreclosure is imminent.
We don’t praise God for our parents until one suddenly passes away.
We forget to thank God for his sacrifice on the cross, until we truly understand that there are real people that decide not to accept that gift.
We neglect to express thanks to God for our most basic gift, our lives, until the doctor returns with the lab results.

While the turn of events often results in immediate negativity, God uses these to change our outlook to his outlook; our perspective to God’s point of view. God wants us to depend on him for his provision and support. It’s no wonder that it’s so easy to “Trust in the Lord” when things are going so well; but the real test is to “lean not on your own understanding” when things look depressing.

For instance, while many of the trunks of our Christmas trees may be less choked out by gifts and presents this year, this may help us change our perspective. Not only may this cause us to be more appreciative of Christmases past, but hopefully about all of God’s gifts that we often neglect. G.K. Chesterton put it so cleverly, “If my children wake up on Christmas morning and have someone to thank for putting candy in their stocking, have I no one to thank for putting two feet in mine?”

This year, why not let Thanksgiving boil over into Christmas, or better yet, even into 2010. Let our humble thankfulness be witnessed by others, in whatever the circumstance. Our thankfulness can be a bold testimony concerning the faith and trust we have in our Lord Jesus. Paul reminds us, “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Col 2:6-7)