A Cloudy Perspective Needs New Lenses

A few months ago, everyone around the globe sat in anticipation on NYE anxiously awaiting a ball to drop and magically change everything. I’m sorry to all you Disney fans out there, but the world does NOT work like Cinderella's carriage. Now don’t get me wrong, if the giant sparkly ball in time square magically turned into a pumpkin as the clock struck midnight that would be quite the scene. However, even though that would be a great representation of how 2020 turned out, a huge mess, that, unfortunately, isn’t how it works.

Here’s the deal. I wasn’t gonna say it but I am 2021. Now, you probably didn’t read that correctly. So, if you can, clean those lenses and read it again. “I wasn’t gonna say it, but I am twenty twenty won”. 20/20 is considered to be the perfect vision and going into 2020 I’d say many of you thought that’s just what the year was going to be, perfect. As for most of you, I’d say you would argue it was quite the opposite by a long shot. Thus leaving you feeling completely defeated and the year 2020 walking away trophy in hand. Am I right?

Just as we expected that magical ball to drop to bring in a “perfect” new year, I would say that came on inauguration morning. As an oath was taken, many believed, “oh now everything will be better” and some believed just the opposite. Welp, that didn’t seem to work, que vaccine roll-out, and I bet you can guess what I’m going to say next. Here’s the deal. Each situation has an argument for both sides, good and bad. No matter what, each human having a completely different perspective and differences of opinions. Trust me, I could continue on that but for now, let’s move on.

Before we dive in further, yes I’m fully aware this post is fairly delayed, (that just depends on how you mark your new Year), yet, is still very relevant in our daily lives today. I hope that you read this as a mere reflection on our current and past thoughts.

What if I were to tell you that your vision is bad? What if I also told you this vision issue isn’t something that your typical glasses or eye doctor could solve? However, only you can fix this type of cloudiness. What if to a point, all this time, we are the ones making our lives worse based on our clouded perspectives and the fact that we don’t want to accept the new normals around us?

Yes, the past year came with a lot of hurt, pain, loss, and as we are all fully aware of: a pandemic, mass protests, a crazy election, riots, and much more. What else could we ask to go wrong? Let’s not answer that… I believe that maybe just maybe we are looking at it all wrong. I can’t help but think that at the end of the day, it’s our visions and perspectives that are blurred. The question I want us all to ask ourselves is, “was it really that bad?” As we all know, with blurred vision comes lenses that help us see the things we couldn’t before.

I will be 100% honest when I say 2020 was by far been one of my top 3 years. I’d say this is your mind right now, (insert mind-blown emoji). While there were many ups and downs, it was the year I needed. Now if I still have your attention, please don’t abandon me here!

In Hebrews 11...

(Yes, in the Bible. If you’re not into that, hang tight because this is going to apply to you too. Trust me.)

...we see not one, not two, but multiple stories of people throughout the Bible who handled plenty of hurts, pains, setbacks, losses and so much more. We see each person not throwing in the towel or complaining when things weren’t going the way THEY wanted them to, but we see them putting on the lenses of faith. Through these lenses, they trust and they listen to what God is saying or doing! To cut the story short, (please go read the passage and all the stories that go with them!), every single one of them had the opportunity to point fingers, give up, complain, and most of all turn away from God and in some cases each other. However, they choose to follow Him through it all! In James 1, we learn that we are going to have trials, but it’s those trials that are going to reveal our true faith and commitment. In each of the stories in Hebrews 11, we see each person putting on those lenses of faith and through that faith, they seek something that I would classify as uncomfortable to see what God is doing. They could have chosen to go their own ways, fighting for their own wants, and live the lives they felt comfortable in but they didn’t.

Maybe, that’s just what we also need to do. Now, I’m not only talking about putting on lenses of faith in God but also in humanity as a whole. Let’s change our cloudy perspectives on life and realize not everything is bad and not everyone is against us. Right now, we may be living in what seems to be a never-ending world of crazy, but take a moment and reflect on the current and past situations with this newfound vision and see what good has come. Let’s look at the positives rather than the negatives. Instead of pointing fingers and turning against each other, let’s come together for the greater good.

As I previously stated, 2020 was one of my top 3 years. I lost my job, spent most of the year unemployed, dealt with many personal issues, and failed a few times. Ummm, wait… you mean to tell me that’s not good? You’re right it’s GREAT! March 12th I left for a vacation that never ended. Had 2020 never occurred I wouldn’t have had the opportunities I did. If I had never lost my job I would have returned to the same routine I had been stuck in for over a year. I would never have... said yes to moving in less than 24 hours, spent 7 weeks serving along the side of my best friends, learned who I am meant to be, healed old wounds, and most of all I wouldn’t be writing this right now. In the midst of chaos, I looked to the positive and went with the uncomfortable route. I could have chosen to stay comfortable but what would that have taught me?

Whatever or wherever you are today, what lens are you going to put on? Are you going to continue to have a cloudy perspective and struggle to see the good in life and humanity? Or are you going to put on a new set of glasses and see what happens with your new vision? Admitting that we don’t always see things clearly and that we need to take a fresh look can challenge our comfortability. A cloudy perspective can be a result of running in fear to achieve a life WE want in order to be comfortable. Trust me, I’ve been there more times than I can count. But the moment that we change the way we look at things and realize that there is something good to come out of being uncomfortable for just a moment, that’s the moment the real change happens. We can sit and complain about everything and everyone living our lives in complete misery or we can realize that our cloudy perspective needs a new vision. Together, let’s change our perspectives and see the change we can create in this world together.

“For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:14‬ ‭