A God Perspective

by Heidi Garrett

I want to talk to you about a little thing. Actually, it’s just one little word. And yet, this little word has far more power than you or I understand – perspective. Probably not the word you were expecting me to write. Maybe you were expecting something like “pride” or “hope.” After all, those are big words in the Christian vernacular. And while those are also quite potent, I’d like to discuss perspective.

As I sit here writing this article, I find myself planted in the middle of a long separation from my husband. And when I say long, I mean long. My husband volunteered for a PCS to Germany over a year ago. At the time we were somewhat excited about this new adventure, but God had different plans than we did. Instead of our small family heading to Germany together, my in-laws now live in our home stateside with my daughter and I, while my husband is overseas serving a 9 month deployment. While 9 months isn’t as bad as it could be, we have to add that time to the already 3 months he spent in Germany, and the rest of the time he will have to stay in Germany post-deployment until (hopefully) the military sends him back stateside to us.  We have no idea when exactly he will be home.

I often find myself feeling panicked and anxious when my mind starts running through my never-ending list of unknowns. There is very little that I know for sure, if anything at all. Deployments and separations are hard no matter what. But when you combine that with the fact that I have no idea how long it will be until I see him and until he can come home, I am easily overwhelmed. It seems like there is no end in sight because I have no idea as to when the end will be. The only thing I have is God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11,

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

When I meditate on this verse, my sinful heart wants to cry out, “But when, God? When will you show me Your plans?” But what I realize is that in the end I simply need a new perspective, a higher perspective, a God-perspective.

One of the things that we simply cannot avoid as humans is our finite nature. We have a beginning and our earthly bodies will have an end. We are painfully aware of our humanity. One would suppose that we would feel that time is simply too short, like our lives are rushing by. And yet I find myself in the midst of this deployment wondering if this is what eternity feels like. Days drag on and on; I have no sense of where the end is. But, that is because I am human.

God, on the other hand, dwells beyond time and space. He is not confined to the same finite box of time we are. When He looks at my life, He sees it all.  From before I was born, until forever, He sees it all. What feels like an eternity here on earth is but a blip in forever from God’s perspective.

Imagine you are a baby eagle which has fallen from its nest, high above the world. You sit vulnerable and alone in a world that seems so very big. You look up at the never ending canopy of trees and cannot see a stitch of blue above you. The world is a terrifying place and there is no way for you to find your way back into the safety of your nest.  Now imagine you are that eagle’s mama flying high in the sky. You can see the whole forest; you can see the whole world. You hear your baby’s call and quickly return to its side. You have no trouble navigating straight to the tree which you both call home and comfort your young chick.  The difference between the young chick and its mama are their perspectives. From the ground, the world seems like a scary place. But up high, where you can see everything, it isn’t so scary.

You see, our perspectives are often the same as a stranded young chick. We look up at the towering trees and we are unable to find the blue sky. We feel paralyzed with fear not knowing what is in our future or what to do next, and it often feels like an eternity. If we simply look up and remember that God has a far bigger perspective and He knows exactly where we are and exactly how we are getting home, I am certain our anxieties about all of the uncertainties in life would diminish. While we may be stranded on the ground struggling to see the sky, God is soaring high above us with a perfect plan and a perfect perspective. All we have to do is look up and remember that our perspective is not the only one – there is a God perspective.