My Perspective Changed and So Did I

We’ve all seen that FedEx logo. And, often we are excited to see it because an important package finally arrived. My perspective of express is getting to a destination quickly. I think of an express train or bus that has little to no stops before reaching its destination and then there's the express elevator that goes straight to the top instead of stopping on other floors.

My perspective changed when the FedEx logo was put up on the screen during a speaker's talk. He said: "Look between the E and the X and see if you can see the white arrow.” And, with a little intentional focus, it was easy to see. Since then, when I see that FedEx logo, whether it's on a truck, an airplane, or a box being delivered to me, I see that arrow!

Maybe you wouldn't have given a second thought to that FedEx logo including a right-arrow. Or maybe you've always seen it. That's because we're ALL different. We all have a different way of viewing things. We often hear sayings such as: “different strokes for different folks", "let's agree to disagree", or "couldn't see the forest for the trees," These expressions verify that we all have different perspectives.

My "God" perspective certainly changed over the years. As a child, I viewed God as a hard taskmaster. I saw Him as the authority figure that would "get me" if I didn't act or perform to please Him. I lived in fear of what He would do to me. My perspective changed when I came to know God's love and grace. I came to know Him as my “Abba Father” -- a Daddy that I can literally "blow it", but with arms open wide, He beckons me to Him, forgives me and gives me mercy. Romans 8:15 says: “The Spirit you received doesn’t make you slaves. Otherwise you would live in fear again. Instead, the Holy Spirit you received made you God’s adopted child. By the Spirit’s power we call God Abba. Abba means Father.”

The key to knowing what's best for my life, is KNOWING GOD!" And that's why my perspective has changed -- because the more time I spend in His Word, in fellowship with His people, in communication with Him, in trusting Him with my whole heart, in wanting with all my heart to please Him.....I've come to know HIM…..REALLY know Him. My perspective changed.....and I could never see Him in any other way again.

Now, with the Apostle Paul, I really do have a perspective of God that causes me to love Him more. And the better I understand His nature and ways, the more I understand how very much He loves me. Paul prayed "May you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high His love really is" (Ephesians 3:18). Take that to heart, and you'll never see God the same way again either.

Abba, Father

The Life Group I’ve started attending uses the devotional book “100 Names of God” as a resource for study and discussion. When I first attended the group, and it was my turn to share about one of my favorite names for God, I shared that it is Jehovah Shalom – God, my peace. I went on to describe how the God of Peace has been so close and dear to me and I’ve realized that peace is my most treasured possession – one that I protect with everything that’s in me.

I was thinking about my Father God this week and remembered the time, when we lived in Shawnee, OK and I worked at Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative. I was in my early 30s and was their member services newspaper editor, before internet and the ability to send our projects via email for print, so I had to take my copy for print to Okmulgee, OK – about an hour’s drive away. On one particular day, I was feeling especially wimpy. I don’t remember why, but I do know that I was longing for a daddy (my daddy passed away when I was 15) to just be able to crawl up into his lap, feel his embrace and cuddles, and hear him say, “Everything’s gonna’ be alright”. As I drove, the tears began to flow as I almost immediately sensed God saying “Baby, I’m here” and I envisioned me crawling up into His lap as He spoke those comforting and loving words to me. It was then that I realized He is more than a Father figure Who is stoic, stern and untouchable. That day I realized God is as close as I welcome Him to be in my life. I realized a daddy’s intimacy with his little girl. He was WHO I needed Him to be at just that moment.

Galatians 4:6, says “And because you are sons (and daughters), God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son (and daughter), and if a son (and daughter), then an heir through God.” Jesus came to earth and hammered home the Father/Child relationship to us. In His prayer to His Father, Jesus said, “And I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26). What name was Jesus referring to? It was the name “Father”. If there was anything close to Jesus’ heart, it was to introduce God as “Father” to us. He even showed us how to pray "Our Father, Who art in heaven......"

Once, He said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) Jesus wants us to always have this image of God in our minds —that He is our Abba, Father. Why? Because He wants us to know that there is nothing more important or too insignificant for the Father when it comes to His children.

Back to that image of a daddy with his little girl. What if a little girl had a splinter embedded into her thumb and never told her daddy about it, but just kept enduring the pain. Her daddy would have been so concerned that he’d ask, “When did you get this?” “A few days ago,” she would answer. He’d reply “Why didn’t you tell Daddy about it?” And what if she replied “I thought you were too busy and that I shouldn’t bother you?”

If you were that father, wouldn’t it break your heart to hear your child say this to you? A splinter may be a small thing, but there is nothing too small when it concerns our children because if it affects them, it affects us, too. And, here’s the very good news. No matter how old we are, we are still God’s children, so we should never think that our problems are too small for Him. If it is important to us, it is important to our Father, too.

I pray that today, wherever you are, and whatever you’re facing that you slow down long enough to go to Abba, Father and allow Him to hold you, embrace you and reassure you “Everything’s gonna’ be alright! I am with you, and I will always be here to remind you ‘You are mine and my banner over you is love.’ Trust Me. I’ve got this! And always remember…..Father knows best!”