HOW TO SEE FROM GOD'S PERSPECTIVE

TEXT- ECCLESIASTES 7:1-4

INTRODUCTION

DEAR MOM AND DAD,

EVERYTHING IS OK, WELL, ALMOST EVERYTHING--YOU SEE, I HAVE A TERRIBLE HEADACHE ABOUT EVERY HALF HOUR.  I'VE BEEN HAVING THIS HEADACHE EVER SINCE I JUMPED FROM MY DORMITORY DURING THE FIRE. A FINE LOOKING YOUNG MAN WAS PASSING MY WINDOW WHEN HE SAW THE FLAMES LEAPING FROM THE WINDOW.  HE WAS KIND ENOUGH TO CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND AMBULANCE.  SINCE MY FURNITURE WAS BURNED UP AND MY ROOM DESTROYED, I HAVE BEEN STAYING AT THIS YOUNG MAN'S APARTMENT.  I THOUGHT SERIOUSLY ABOUT MARRYING HIM BUT I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT MIXED MARRIAGES.  MOM AND DAD--NONE OF THE ABOVE HAPPENED TO ME. I DON'T HAVE A HEADACHE.  THERE WAS NOT A FIRE IN THE DORM AND I DIDN'T MEET A YOUNG MAN WITH WHOM I'M LIVING.  I AM WRITING THIS LETTER TO TELL YOU THAT I'VE JUST RECEIVED MY REPORT CARD.  I HAVE THREE D'S AND TWO F'S. I JUST THOUGHT, IF I PUT THIS IN A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, IT WOULD SOUND BETTER!

                     YOUR LOVING DAUGHTER

THIS MORNING OUR TEXT IS FOUND IN ECCLESIASTES 7:1-4 AND THE TITLE OF MY MESSAGE IS, "HOW TO SEE FROM GOD'S PERSPECTIVE."

THE WAY WE AS HUMAN BEING LOOK AT THINGS AND THE WAY GOD LOOKS AT THINGS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

ISAIAH 55:8-9  FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NEITHER ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS," DECLARES THE LORD. [9] "FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS, AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS.

THE ANSWER TO HAVING A BETTER LIFE IS NOT ABOUT GETTING A BETTER LIFE, IT’S JUST ABOUT CHANGING HOW WE SEE THE ONE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW. ANGEL KYODO WILLIAMS FOUNDER OF THE URBAN PEACE PROJECT

THIS MORNING I WOULD LIKE US TO CONSIDER TWO WAYS TO SEE LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE.