Getting Un-Stuck (part 2): What Do You See?

I remember the day I got contact lenses.  I was in high school at the time.  As I drove home from the optometrist’s office, wearing the lenses, I distinctly remember seeing individual leaves on the trees.  I was in awe!  They were beautiful!!  In fact, everything I saw was crystal clear!  I saw the whiskers on my cat, bugs in the garden, and I could recognize people across the room—with their facial expressions!  That night, when I looked up into the night sky, I noticed individual stars for the first time in a long time.  What a difference my new lenses made...not only in what I saw, but I also found myself more excited about life!  I felt like a new person, looking forward to what I would discover next.

There are times in our life when we get clobbered with uninvited circumstances.  Bad things happen.  We start to worry, be fearful, get angry, or all of the above.  As we react negatively to these situations over and over, our thoughts become false beliefs (lies), i.e., “I always have bad luck”, “God is against me”, etc.  When we believe and act out on these beliefs, our mind reinforces the negative things we say, our feelings get out of control, and we start spiraling down into a pit.  How can we break the cycle of negative thoughts, beliefs, feelings and actions?

Start at the beginning...by looking at the circumstance with new lenses...from God’s perspective—what He sees.  We need to tell ourselves the truth.  Read what God says about us—how much He loves us, He never leaves us, He gives us strength, courage and wisdom...  Give Him our worry, fear, disappointment, anger, etc.  Imagine how God can take our situation and make something good out of it.  If we can’t “see” the good now, believe that it will happen.  And then our feelings will start to change, and our actions reflect that.  We will find hope in God and climb out of the pit.

On our own we walk around with fuzzy vision, and don’t even realize it.  We think it’s normal.  That we’re doing okay.  But when we get hit upside the head, that’s the time to put on God’s specs and see what He sees...in us, in our situation, in the hope He has for our future.  His scriptures always give clarity.  Hope.  New life. Even excitement.  And others will notice and trust in the Lord!

Psalm 40:1-3

“I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.”