This week I inflamed my left eye when I tried to remove my contact lens. I usually wear glasses, but for sports or certain occasions my contact lenses are a better solution. On Monday I put in contacts instead of glasses as a better complement to a giraffe costume I was wearing. However, after putting them in, it didn’t seem like they were correcting my vision enough. I figured it was probably time to replace them with newer ones. I had no trouble removing the contact in my right eye. But the contact in my left eye clung stubbornly to my cornea. As I repeatedly tried to remove it, I aggravated my eye which become inflamed and sore. The soreness made it seem like the lens was still in my eye but dislodged under my lower eyelid. I had trouble locating it because my bloodshot eye made it difficult to discern any foreign object. Well, later that day when I conducted another extraction attempt I realized my contact wasn’t even in my eye. I don’t think it ever was. It must have dropped from my finger without me noticing when I first tried inserting it that morning. A trip to the optometrist confirmed that nothing is in my eye, it is not damaged, and it will heal soon with the aid of some steroid eye drops to address the inflammation. Through this ordeal I learned a key lesson. Don’t ever dress up like a giraffe. Just kidding. Actually the lesson is the value of reframing. I inflamed my eye because I was fixated on removing my contact. I kept trying different techniques in order to address that problem. However, in reality, my diagnosis was wrong and so my attempts at resolving it were misguided, ineffective, and potentially damaging. In more ways than one, I wasn’t seeing clearly. I needed to step back and evaluate the situation from a new angle.
Has this happened to you? Have you ever needed to reframe your thinking, get a fresh perspective on a situation, or objectively view a relationship in order to move forward with a better approach? Fortunately you are not alone in formulating a new mindset. The almighty, eternal God who created you and loves you wants to share his infinite wisdom to guide you. Although his ways are foreign, at first, different, counter-cultural, and sometimes difficult or uncomfortable, they are always better than your personal perspective or striving if it is based on your fallen, self-centered nature. Jesus, God the Son, designed and sustains the universe and everything in it from grand galaxies to quantum mechanics. He knows you and is always working for your best. Jesus became a man, lived rightly among us, died innocently, and rose again triumphantly to save you from your wrong thinking and wrongdoing so you can have abundant, everlasting life with God (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Draw close to God by trusting and obeying Jesus and he will reframe your thinking and renew your life.
Reframe Your View of God
How you view God and relate to God changes everything. It determines the quality of your life, your impact on others, and your eternal destiny. Some people don’t believe God exists, yet evidence for him exists all around us in creation and in changed lives (Romans 1:19-20).
Some people view God as an angry dictator always looking to punish those who disobey, yet God consistently demonstrates a perfect balance of justice and mercy in his unconditional love for everyone. To those who recognize their brokenness he extends mercy. To the self-righteous or proud he confronts them with their shortcomings. This involves the tough love of holding them accountable. Doing so is for their good in order to save them from their own destruction and the destruction of others (Psalm 145:8-9; Jonah 4:2; 1 Peter 3:9).
Some people view God as aloof, callous, and uninvolved in the world he created, convinced in their own mind that a loving God would not allow suffering. True, God does not desire to see people suffer. That was never his design. Yet this world is fallen and people are broken because people abuse the freedom of choice God has given them. They choose to love themselves and live life on their own instead of loving God and living for him (2 Timothy 3:1-5). They hurt themselves, others, and God in the process. Thus, the pain, suffering, natural disaster, separation from God, and spiritual death that results is not God’s fault, but humankind’s (John 3:16-21).
Reframe Life with God’s Help
Do you need to reframe your view of God and what he wants to do in your life? Let’s learn from a few examples followed by typical situations in life where people, including me, need a new perspective from God.
Jairus was a Jewish synagogue official in first-century Israel. His daughter was dying, so he travelled to ask for Jesus to come and heal her. As Jesus travelled back with him, messengers from Jairus’ house brought the tragic news that his daughter had just died. Jesus told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” On the way home, Jairus had a choice to focus on the hurt and be overwhelmed with grief or to focus on Jesus the healer, listen to his words, and obey. When they arrived at his house, Jesus miraculously raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Luke 8:40-56).
When God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to release Israel from Egyptian bondage, Moses made excuses based on fear, stuttering, and being unqualified. He had a choice to focus on his inability or to focus and rely on God’s ability. He finally obeyed and God worked through him mightily to save Israel. God never calls you to something he doesn’t empower to to do. You can do all things through Jesus who gives you strength (Exodus 3:1-4:17).
When Jesus and his followers came across a beggar who was blind since birth, his disciples asked Jesus who sinned, this man or his parents? Their flawed understanding was that people only suffer if they do wrong and they don’t suffer if they do right. Jesus answered them that in this particular case, the blindness was not due to the man or his parents. Jesus showed them that although sometimes suffering comes upon innocent people, God can use it for good to show his magnificent love and to heal, save, and restore people as he draws them closer to himself. Jesus physically healed the blind man and then went even further to remove his spiritual blindness. Jesus revealed himself as the savior of the world. In his encounter with Jesus, the man had a choice to doubt, resist Jesus’ help, and continue living in darkness. Or he could believe, obey, and have his eyes opened to all he was blind to before. Praise God that the man believed and worshipped Jesus (John 9:1-41).
See with God’s Eyes
Life is more than here and now. It is forever. Where will you spend eternity? With God in heaven or without him in torment (Revelation 20-21). God wants you to be with him, to be like him, and to do what he does. Christianity is not you finding God and adding him to your life. It is God seeking you out and replacing your life with his. It is not a religion of obligations. It is a relationship of opportunities with the one and only God (John 17:3). Are you open to God saving you and then reframing your view and showing you what you might be blind to? Here are some key areas to consider.
- Failures: Your brokenness doesn’t have to be permanent. Your past does not have to shackle and define you. However, you must lose your life to save it (Luke 9:23-26). If you submit to God, he will do what seems impossible: He will save you, adopt you into his family, and help you become all that he designed you to be (John 1:12). Change from a fixed mindset where your circumstances and past hold you back to a growth mindset where you can experience new life in Jesus. Ask God to show you the positive amidst the negative and to glean lessons from your mistakes. Learn remorse and repentance from sin, then rely on God to help you to live rightly and to work through you to help others do the same.
- Trials: God can redeem pain and suffering whether it is caused by you or someone else. As he heals you, he builds your character so that you move from your self-centeredness and sin and move toward God and his righteousness. In the Bible, the apostle Paul wrote of the unique transformative power of God, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Instead of praying to only be delivered from a trial, also ask God to teach you through it. Although it is difficult, hardships and discipline are never wasted if you allow them to bring you closer to God (Hebrews 12:7-11).
- Relationships: God can help you view people for who they can be rather than who they currently are or have been in the past. Value people as God’s precious creation, not for what you can get from them. Look to serve rather than be served (Mark 10:42-45; John 20:21, 15:13). Be open to God changing you first, before asking him to change others. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44-45). Forgive others with the forgiveness God has shown you (Matthew 6:14-15). Comfort those in trouble with the comfort you have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
- Possessions: Life is not found in the abundance of things, but in the abundance that comes from knowing God (Luke 12:15; John 17:3). Instead of coveting what you don’t have, rejoice in what you do have (Exodus 20:17; James 1:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). View wealth as an asset to invest in others more than as a means to indulge yourself. God raises your standard of living to increase your level of giving. You are blessed to be a blessing.
Conclusion
Sorry for the long note. Thanks for sticking with me this far. I needed to rethink my lens removal or else I would have intensified the problem. Similarly, in various cases, we each need a reframing of our perspective in order to move forward, grow, and avoid unnecessary strife. It starts with realizing the vile extent of your wrongdoing, but also the boundless extent of God’s grace and love (Romans 5). He offers forgiveness to anyone who confesses their wrong and trusts Jesus to save them (1 John 1:9). The apostle Paul exhorted believers along this line, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2). As you follow Jesus rather than your old way of life, he will reframe your thinking about yourself and other people, about your past and future, about your circumstances, your time, your talents, and your treasure. Yield to that process and you will begin to see the way he does. You will become more like him which is the most fulfilling life you can experience now and forever.