Perspective: When the World Seems Upside down

If you are like me, you have certain ideas set in your mind about how life should go. It can be a combination of the ideals your parents instilled in you when you were young and lessons you learned the hard way and are determined to never forget. It can also be influenced by your culture or your belief system.

We all have this list of factors we need in order to feel safe and content with our lives. When something goes wrong, we can get derailed easily. It’s at this point when we tell ourselves to take things one day at a time. We try to convince ourselves that we must just keep going and eventually things will right themselves.

But what if they don’t? What if the loved one dies instead of recovering? What if the adult child walks away and rejects the family? What if the dream job suddenly evaporates into thin air? Or maybe the perfect marriage comes apart and cannot be mended?

At some point, we have to decide what we really believe about life. Is life just random and there really is no reason for anything? Just dumb luck? Or, is life a series of events that all flow together for some future good?

As the world is dealing with this pandemic that seems surreal, we have to change our perspective about what life is supposed to look like. We cannot go back to the way things were before and we don’t have any experience to help us understand what the future is going to look like. All we know is that the world seems upside down and we wonder if anyone has the power to make it right again.

There is only One who has that power. There is only One who knows what is going on and can see the final outcome. God has always known this season would come. He is able to bring good from every situation we will ever face.

Just because this has become a global crisis doesn’t mean that God is any less capable of handling it. Remember that He is the one who created this earth. He is still sovereign and in control of everything that happens here.

So now we must decide to change our perspective. We are at a moment in time when we must decide that life doesn’t have to look like the mental picture we’ve always had. It’s time to be open to allowing God to work in new ways. It’s time to set aside our list of requirements for a good and happy life. It’s time to seek God and listen to what He is saying to us. He knows what lies ahead and He will be faithful to see us through.

Perhaps God is saying to us what He said to Isaiah.

“Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” – Isaiah 43:19 (CSB)