Is the glass half empty of half full? Of course some say it’s half full and some will say it’s half empty and former detective Adrian Monk would measure it and adjust the volume to make sure it is exactly half. Many would just ask, “Who cares?”
The truth is it is a pretty silly question and a pretty frivolous discussion. But, it does help illustrate something for us. As you look at the glass, your answer to the question is all a matter of viewpoint or focus. And it helps us understand a little bit more about why we become discouraged and how to get victory over discouragement.
Discouragement is always focused on something and most of the time it is focused on the wrong things. Discouragement comes and grows when we focus our attention on a challenge, problem, or event that we don’t like. Our viewpoint is that we are facing, or are going to face something that makes us uncomfortable . . .it means hard work is ahead . . . it’s gonna cost us something. Discouragement is inseparably linked to our perspective . . what we focus on.
When we look at the viewpoint of discouragement, we find that discouragement always involves a distorted, unbiblical view or perspective. When we are discouraged, we are not seeing things as God sees them.
We think, we evaluate, and we make judgements about the best solution for our problems, but the truth is we look at things from the wrong perspective. God’s Word ALONE gives us the basis of truth and through the truth of God’s Word we can put everything else in proper perspective.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
(Proverbs 14:12 ESV)
The teaching of your word gives light,
so even the simple can understand.
(Psalm 119:130 NLT)
So, we need to evaluate and view our life circumstances through the lens of scripture. Our thinking and ideas don’t give us the right perspective on the challenges we face unless our thinking and ideas come from God’s Word. In all our challenges, we must ask, “What does God’s Word have to say about this?” “What is God’s perspective on this?” When we fail to see our life circumstances with a biblical view, we have no foundation for seeing life correctly. Whether we will be discouraged or become victorious over discouragement is a matter of what we choose to think about and focus on.
In his book Seeing With New Eyes, David Poslison explains,
God teaches us to see everything else the world contains. This seeing, this gaze, means to wake us up from our fantasies, fictions, and nightmares to see things as they are in fact. God has the real take on things. And God teaches us His gaze. Our Father enlightens the eyes of our hearts. We become able to pry apart true from false, instead of living in a murk of half-truths and flat lies. All sorts of things start to look and to mean different when the lights come on.Next: (2) Looking from a Different Viewpoint
