To Encourage You

Isaiah 55:12 “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

The condition of our soul effects everything else in our world.  As one of my spiritual mentors said to me when explaining what it was like for him when he became a Christian, “The next day, the sky was bluer and the grass was greener. Everything looked completely different to me.”  What a wonderful explanation this was to me of how knowing Christ, the Creator of everything around us, changes our perspective.  So often, it is how things look to us on the outside or how what’s happening in and to our lives that largely shapes our inner spirit.  How often do we hear about “seasonal affective disorder,” which is a condition of melancholy brought on by a lack of sunshine – something that typically occurs over the winter with its short day lengths.  And how often do you hear people complain about the snow, the rain, or the cold, and the very act of complaining shows how uncontrollable external factors affect our internal attitudes. 

By contrast, the inner joy and peace of a believer who knows that their sins have been forgiven and their future is secure in Christ should influence their perspective about everything else.  As we view the mountains, the hills and the trees, there should be a supernatural response of gladness regarding the wonders of what our Heavenly Father has created by His powerful word.  Everything should look different to a believer than it does to an unbeliever, for the believer should be able to see God’s hand everywhere he or she looks.  Indeed, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  Each and every morning we can say with the psalmist, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3).  And listen to this perspective from Psalm 121, the perspective of one who knows the Lord and trusts in Him for every aspect of life:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

So, is that your perspective of life, or are the things on the outside governing your thoughts on the inside?  Surely it doesn’t need to be that way, for those who know Christ.