God's Perception

Day two hundred seven

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. " ~Arnold Bennett

I've been thinking about this quote lately.  It seems to be the motto of my family. There are lots of changes going on, mostly for the better, and we are feeling some of the drawbacks and discomforts of these changes.  We are experiencing growing pains. We are plodding our way through, trying to re-balance our lives and family with each new change. Change was the topic of discussion in our Family Home Evening lesson last night.  Right now we are all about change!

In our discussion some good points came up: 
We need to invite the Lord into our lives more to help us during these transitions.    
We need to be diligent in our prayers and scripture reading.
We need to be open with each other about how we are feeling and ask for help.
We need to feel comfortable asking for a blessing when needed.
We need to trust the Lord more and try to see things through His eyes.

So this morning in my prayer I shared with the Lord my feelings about the changes that are taking place and I asked Him to bless my family with the ability to work through the drawbacks and discomforts, that we might stay focused on what He sees in us and less on what we lack.  I also thanked Him for the fact that my family has the gospel in our lives to guide us through these times.  I am so grateful for the fact that as a family we can sit down and have a discussion on something and it leads to gospel principles.  What a great blessing!
 Judges 6

Yesterday I talked about the message that the angel of the Lord delivered to Gideon.  The angel told him that the Lord was with him, then he says something that is truly amazing. He looks at Gideon and calls him “a mighty man of valor”. Here is a man who is so afraid of the enemy that he is hiding behind a winepress threshing wheat. He is full of fear, but the Lord saw what Gideon would be when he got though with him. God intended to take Gideon and use him in a great way. The phrase the Lord used refers to “a man who is charging right into the face of the enemy.” It doesn’t make sense, but that is who the Lord saw when he looked at Gideon.

What does the Lord see when He looks at you and me? He knows us far better than we even know ourselves (Psa. 139; Heb. 4:13). If you are like me, you often look at your life and see mistakes, failures and problems. You see a person who consistently fails to live up to God’s high calling for your life. You see a person who loses far more than wins. You see a person who, from all appearances, is always coming up short.

While that is what we might see, God sees beyond these things. Think of the story of David.  When Jesse looked at David, he saw his youngest son. When God looked at David, He saw a king (1 Sam. 16:12). When Gideon looked at himself, he may have seen the weaknesses. When the Lord looked at him, He saw a warrior.

The Lord looks at the heart (1 Sam 16:7.) He knows what we will be when He gets through with us. The best thing we can do is to take our life, with all its problems, its failures and its shortcomings and place all that in the hands of the Lord. He is able to take us like we are and transform us into something powerful and amazing!

When I was younger people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I had answers like a ballerina, a doctor, a teacher, etc.  It usually had something to do with what was interesting to me at the time. As I matured the responses did lean towards choices that would benefit others, but it was still about what I liked.  

What if the question was:  Spiritually what would you like to be when you are done with your time here on earth?  What would your answer be?  After studying about God's perception I think my answer would have to be, whatever God needs me to be!  It isn't about my wants at all, it is about His needs and my willingness to let Him mold me into what is needed.  Maybe He needs another Paul or Deborah or Gideon, or maybe His plans are more simple and we will be like the many that fight for the cause, but don't receive a lot of notice.  Either way the possibilities are exciting because God chooses us to work through, and when that happens we are both powerful and amazing!