May 27 - Get Some Perspective

May 27 - Get Some Perspective - 2 Timothy 3:1-9

Diane says:
This is a list that should scare us to death. While it is very simple to see that these qualities are prevalent in our society today, they have been around since the beginning of time. The frightening thing is how simple it is to become like this. There is nothing worth redeeming in this person. In fact Paul tells Timothy to have nothing to do with them.

The church in Ephesus was becoming overrun by people who had gone after the women in the congregation who were weak-willed, filled with sin and overcome by lust. They were open to whatever new fad and heresy intrigued them and could never settle into God's truth.

The story of Jannes and Jambres was a fictional story (not Biblical) of two of Pharaoh's magicians who competed against Moses and lost (from Exodus 7:11; 9:11). Paul was comparing Timothy to Moses, which would have encouraged him as he dealt with these men 'of depraved minds.'

Rebecca says:
Wow, this is a pretty heady set of verses. Really the whole sum of them makes me want to just go find a bunker some where and hide until the heavenly chariots show up.

"Abusive, unforgiving, slanderous, and brutal." Ugh, those are terrible words, the kind of words that make fear enter my soul. And I am only fearful because it seems so true. Everywhere I look these days there seems to be treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure and to be frank they frighten me, this world frightens me. I don’t watch the news or I would never sleep at night.

I guess part of that fear is because we are all vulnerable fragile humans. We are all weak willed women when it comes down to it. There is nothing in us, no reserve in any of this flesh that is strong enough to take on these kinds of battles. We might survive for a little time but eventually if it was left to us, we would be doomed.

I currently live in Utah, surrounded by mountains on just about every side. I have seen pictures of mountains, but until you are face to face with one you just never realize how gigantic they are. Tall and rocky and steep, when you are face to face it seems impossible to move one regardless of how big or little your faith is.

But the other day I was sitting in my office looking out at the range that lies to the west of my job. And it was funny to me how small they seemed. Since they were so far away they looked like they were an inch high and could be removed with a flick of my finger. I realized that if they look small to me from 20 miles away, how small must they seem to God from His throne.

The Rockies that are gigantic to me are nothing but a speck to Him. The only difference is perspective. When I look at them from an earthly point of view filled with human vision and assumptions, I am overwhelmed, but when I think of looking at them from the viewpoint of a plane in the sky and then zoom it out even farther and try to envision them from a heavenly perspective, suddenly it seems quite possible to move them with just a speck of faith.

I kind of think it is the same thing with these horrific terrible warnings about our world today. Because I live in it day to day and come face to face with abuse, unforgiviness and lack of love and self control, they all seem too big for me to handle. Too scary for me to tackle, too large for me to do anything about. It is easy to believe they are destined to worm their way into my life because I am after all just a weak willed woman. It’s my nature.

Then I stop and try to get a different perspective. When I remember that I am not just a woman here on this earth but instead a daughter held in the hand of a beloved Father, all these things take on a different form and suddenly they lose their power. Yes, to the world these are terrible times, and if I was just a girl and if my flesh dictated the rest of my existence I would surely be over run by all of them. But there is no need to fear because I am not merely flesh, and neither are you. We are also part spirit and when we tap into that part we are suddenly lifted up and see all of this for what it is - small and powerless and nothing to fear.

It is good to be aware of what surrounds us, but also important to keep things in perspective. When we are caught up in the world it is easy to believe that all we are weak willed women, which is a deception that this world wants us to swallow whole because if we do, then we give it power and start to crumble under the enormous weight of it all.

But if we can somehow continually strive to remember that we are His - day and night and night and day, if we can remember that it is in His hand that we stand, in His heart that we live, then everything this verse and this life holds becomes so small and powerless because we are no longer weak willed women but divinely developed daughters and that knowledge alone can move any mountain.

So I guess I won't head for the bunker just yet. But I am still not watching the news, it seems the weak willed woman in me tends to be the one that listens to those stories and the Divine Daughter has not figured out how to put them on mute so she can sleep!