A college student had two problems common to many: low grades and no money. Knowing that her parents wouldn’t look kindly on her dilemma she devised an ingenious plan to soften the blows of reality and wrote this letter:
Dear Mom and Dad,
Just thought I’d drop you a note to let you know how I’m doing. I’ve fallen in love with a guy named Flick. He dropped out of school after the 9th grade, but has a really good job as a bouncer at a bar. He’s teaching me to ride his Harley and next week we’re going to get matching tattoos. We’ve been going steady for the past two months and plan on getting married in the fall. At any rate, I’ve dropped out school but plan on going back after the baby comes.
On the next page she continued:
Mom and Dad, I just want you to know that everything I just told you is absolutely false, none of it is true. However, I did get a C in French, flunked math and I could use some more money. Love JoAnn
As a parent, I don’t know if I’d hug her or “I won’t even go there.”
Even bad news can sound like good news if it is seen from a particular vantage point. So much of what we face in life depends on “where we’re coming from” as we face circumstances. The secret of course is perspective.
Perspective? The term literally means to see things as they really are, to objectively assess a situation in light of its comparative importance.
So let’s get some perspective. Let me ask you, “How does God perceive you, I mean, how does He see you?” Does He simply tolerate you or just put up with you?
Does God love you?
If so, how much does He love you and what does He expect in return?
Many Christians have convoluted perspectives of how God sees them and what He desires of them.
As a result, many Christians approach God like our college coed who tried too bring her dilemma into perspective before dumping a dose of reality on her parents.
The reality is that God already knows our perspective. He knows who we are, what we’ve done or not done and He still loves us. And it’s not a matter of getting on His good side or warming Him up before we “drop the bomb”. The Lord loves us and He wants us to love Him in return. And when we rest in His unfailing love for us something wonderfully miraculous begins to take place.
We begin to be transformed by His love and a hunger begins to rumble within us to know Him more and to be more like Him.
Not out of compulsion or force, but out of a deep longing. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 3: 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.
Unveiled faces! No facades, no veneers, no outward show of public image, no politicking or appeasing, but unvarnished, with no pretense, posturing or posing to be something other than what we are.
When we understand that the Lord desires for us to come to Him with “unveiled faces,” completely open, honest, and unvarnished before Him, a wonderful transformation begins to take place and we begin to see things as they really are. We begin to comprehend how much the Lord loves us and that He is in the process of transforming us into His image. That because He loves us, He doesn’t want to leave us the way we are, but transform us into what He desires us to be. That’s perspective!
But if we don’t understand that, we can loose all perspective and begin to see the Lord as a harsh task master who desires to see us perform like a dancing bear either in the pulpit or pew. It’s all a matter of perspective.
David was called a man after God’s own heart! And he was called this not because he was without error or because he got it all right, because we all know he didn’t. What made David a man after God’s own heart was PERSPECTIVE! He saw things as they really were and objectively assessed his situation in light of its comparative importance.
As a young man, David was viewed by others as having limited potential and promise and looked like anything but a king. In fact, David wasn’t even in the running for the position. When the prophet Samuel arrived at Jesse’ house, David’s father, to anoint one of his boys as king, Jesse lined up every one of his boys except David. Jesse didn’t see David having a lick of potential so he didn’t even bother to call him in from the fields to be considered by Samuel.
Now at first the prophet thought the way Jesse did and judged Jesse’s sons based on how they would look as a king. But God had something else in mind. 1 Sam. 16 tells us that Samuel saw Eliab (Jesse’s oldest son) and thought, "Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the a LORD." 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."1 Sam. 16:6-7
Jesse had all seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these." So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." 12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. 1 Sam. 16:10-13
Now the questions before us are simple. What did God see in David? Why in the world would God choose David? Was it his sterling obedience like Daniel? Was it his demonstration of power like Elijah? Was it his military brilliance like Joshua?
What would cause God to call David?
We’ll, back in 1 Samuel 13 we are given a clue. The Lord had just removed His anointing from rebellious King Saul and it says in v. 14 the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people.
What was the Lord was looking for “a man after His own and heart?” A young man who would understand God’s perspective. A young man who would come before the Lord with no facades, no pretense, no airs or posturing, just a heart that sought after the God.
Though David was no where near where God wanted him to be when He called him, David had a heart that would follow and would seek after God’s perspective.
Folks, many Christians work really hard trying to serve the Lord, but spend little time if any developing their love relationship with the Lord and as a result loose perspective. Many of us sincerely say we love the Lord, but it’s on our terms and with our agenda. We loose perspective because once God begins the transformation process, the melting and molding, (which is very uncomfortable I might add) we get angry at Him or feel He’s angry at us or abandoned us, or that He doesn’t love us anymore.
We become twisted Christians and loose all perspective as we base our relationship with God on our own dysfunction, rather than the reality of His truth. He say’s I’ll never leave you or forsake you, I’ll always love you and be there for you, but we don’t believe Him.
Now I’m telling you this because the transformation process is NOT EASY and if we don’t have perspective, what the Lord is attempting to do in our lives will make us bitter instead of making us better. David had this transformation process in perspective because though Samuel anointed him as king at about the age of 17, it took 20 years to become king. And those 20 years were marked by 5 different seasons that equipped David for that calling as king. And if David didn’t have a perspective of what God was doing in his life, I believe he would have quit, given up and never fulfilled his calling.
Each season of David’s life was marked by a specific place, a specific lesson and with it a specific perspective. His journey began in none other that Bethlehem and it was in Bethlehem that the Lord taught David the perspective of faithfulness in little things.
As you recall, David was born in Bethlehem, the youngest of 8 boys. He was a shepherd, which may seem quaint to us, but in that culture it was a lonely, dirty, uninspiring day in and day out task that was given to the lowest ranking member of the family and society as a whole. His life was filled with menial tasks that no one else wanted to do, yet David gained a valuable perspective, that you can’t do great things for God unless you’re willing to do the not so great things for God. Instead of being upset with the Lord about why he was doing what he was doing, the uninspiring and not so great things, he did it unto the Lord.
He didn’t feel he was being punished, but kept a spirit of devotion and a heart that sought after God even when following God seemed to be the last obvious thing to do. Though anointed as king, David returned to the fields and had a dynamic interaction with the Lord even though he had a boring job. When no one was looking, David was faithful with little things.
I met so many Christians who want it all now, but the reality is that they can’t handle it all now. Unless they learn as David did to be grateful in the small things, they will never be able to lead with the big things. It’s all a matter of perspective.
You may feel God’s calling on your life, you’re excited, you stay up nights dreaming about what the Lord had in store for you. The Lord rejoices with your excitement, but He may first have you herd sheep in Bethlehem before moving you on. Are you OK with that or are you ticked at God about it? It’s all a matter of PERSPECTIVE.
If you’re in Bethlehem, it is easy to become disillusioned or be angry, but avoid that. Because it is the small things in Bethlehem that God prepares us for the bigger things down the road. So keep things in perspective.
God moved David to the city of Gibeah, where he gained the perspective of early promotion.
After Samuel anointed David at age 17, the Spirit of the Lord departed from King Saul and a disturbing spirit troubled him. As a cure for his ugly mood, Saul’s servants recommend that David play his music to comfort him, so David moved off the farm and to Gibeah, the capital of Saul’s government. For approximately the next 6 years, David found favor in Saul’s eyes and the eyes of the entire nation.
It was during this time that David confronted Goliath and had his first taste of earthy success, and it was significant. David became an over night sensation and the darling of the nation. And though David probably didn’t know it, God was using this early success to test and develop his character and to see how he would handle the test of promotion.
Blessings test us differently than adversity. Adversity has a tendency to cause us to hit our knees running, but blessings, can throw us completely off course.
Blessings affect the human heart and can cause us to become consumed with intoxicating pride when we receive even the littlest amount of earthly honor. It’s all too easy to forget about tending sheep and menial tasks. It’s easy to say, I don’t have time for small stuff anymore, I’m the anointed of God. Pride sets in, and you know what’s right around the corner, a fall.
The human race shows us that when most people get promoted, they typically don’t get more devout, they just end up more devoid.
But not David, he never lost the lessons of Bethlehem, but built upon them. Don’t get swept up in the temporary elation of position. If you live for the applause of men, you will become its slave.
Moses had great authority in Egypt, but it wasn’t until after the wilderness that He was ready to lead God’s people. The same was true for Joseph. The Lord wanted David to learn to handle the favor of men just as he learned to handle obscurity. If you desire to lead for the Lord, this is an invaluable lesson and it’s all a matter of perspective, especially as David went from the Penthouse to the Outhouse.
David’s third lesson came in The cave of difficulty at Adullam
After the praises and promotion of Gibeah, David’s career took a sharp turn south. He lost favor in Saul’s court and his popularity caused his jealous enemies to emerge. David went from the court of the king to a cave of the criminal.
God slammed the brakes on David’s early success, rammed it into reverse and took him into on of the toughest times imaginable. 6 years in Gibeah had tested him with praise and success, but now the cave of Adullam was testing him with 7 years of hardship. Early success can cause a saint to swell with pride and pride comes before a fall, but in the cave of Adullam, a person can become hard and embittered. The cave of Adullam was the complete opposite to the lifestyle he grown accustomed to in Gibeah. There were no servants, no cooks, no warm bed, nothing, but a cold, dank and dark cave.
God’s promise seemed to disappear in that cave of Adullam. David spent long stretches of time crying, screaming and being overcome with discouragement and wanted to quit. For 7 long years David struggled. But amazingly, David never gave up on the Lord who never gave up on him. The Lord was teaching David to find his identity in Him and not in the adulation of men or success.
In the cave of Adullam, David had his idealism and naiveté scraped away as he learned to look to the Lord instead of his difficult circumstances. Like Peter walking on the waves, he needed to keep his eyes on the Lord.
God wanted David to learn to not become proud during the good times nor to give up during the bad times. The Lord was teaching David that regardless of the changes in the seasons, His purpose remains the same. That in spite of the ups and downs God was maturing him and preparing him to be king.
David’s life is a prophetic picture of how God brings us into the fullness of our calling by establishing our identity in the Him and its all a matter of perspective.
After 7 years in the wilderness cave, things changed with the death of King Saul. Now at about the age of 30, people were pushing David to take his position of king. But instead of rushing ahead, David did the unexpected and sought the Lord and his prophetic purpose. David could have agreed with all those around him and jumped at the chance to go back to Gibeah as king, but instead, David went to Hebron. Instead of taking rule over the 12 tribes of Israel, David was lead by God to rule over only 1. And it was in Hebron that God wanted David to gain perspective about going after position.
For some people, ministry is all about a “Power Trip”. In fact, the Lord tells us not to “Lord over people” because unfortunately so many do.
It was in Hebron that God not only transformed David, but formed a core of committed leaders free from self-serving ambition and developed a team which was unified for the greater glory of the Lord.
Hebron can be a difficult time. You may have made it through the obscurity of Bethlehem. You may have passed the praise of Gibeah and the discouragement of Adullam, but the fruit looks so ripe for picking in Hebron. All you’d have to do is step out and grab it and it would be yours, except for the fact that the Lord would not be in it. When things are tantalizingly close, it is easy to take our eyes off the Lord and go our own way. When our agenda supersedes our love and devotion for God we’ve lost perspective. Ministry is not about gaining power, but empowering others.
After 7 years of reigning in Hebron, David now 37 was ready to take hold of the prophecy given to him by Samuel some 20 years earlier. In essence David had arrived, but the learning was not over in the as he arrived in Zion.
1st David had learned along the way that it was God who made him King. He knew the Lord loved him and he loved the Lord and so he didn’t have to cheat along the way or claim the throne by force. He didn’t need to manipulate, prod anyone or politic for position. God had called him and God would do as God would do. Being king was God’s idea not David’s.
Many people strive for position and status. They live anxious lives questioning God’s call and so they try to protect their little kingdoms or take over others.
2nd David learned that his calling as king in Zion was not as a result of his strength of character, but because of God’s extraordinary grace. This was God’s ministry and David knew that and was ok with it.
3rd David soon realized that success is not all its cracked up to be. In his success he made some poor choices and it cost him dearly. But regardless, David never lost perspective through the good, the bad, and the ugly of times, David new that he loved God and that God always loved him and that’s why he was considered a man after God’s own heart.
God has a pilgrimage for all of us. All of us are at different levels of maturity and at different seasons of life. And through these seasons there are things that the Lord wants to teach us in order to advance us along His path.
Where are you today in God process of transformation and how’s you’re attitude along the way? Are you discouraged? Are you angry? Are you feeling unloved, abandoned or disserted by the Lord? If so, I encourage you to go to Him and go to His Word and gain some perspective, because the Lord knows the plans He has for you- Jer. 29:11 and the good work He desires to do in you. Phil. 1:6
It’s all a matter of perspective.
