Back in the fall of 2017, I left my position as children’s pastor at a church in the St. Paul area. It was a bittersweet time as we felt like change was coming and that it was our time to move on, but we had no clue as to what would be next.
I was already working at Michael’s Arts and Crafts, but I had to increase my hours there to be able to make ends meet. Even then it was very difficult to pay rent and all of our bills. At the time my family was going through this, I kept asking God why and feeling like I was struggling to hold my head up. As a father and a husband, the only thing I wanted to do was take care of my family, but I wanted to do what God had called me to do as well. My perspective was always focusing on the negative and not focusing on what God had called me to do.
I was recently listening to a podcast by a minister named Chip Ingram. In this podcast, Chip was talking about something that really got me thinking. He was talking about the power of focus and how it can affect what our experience is. Chip had an equation that I have taken to heart: C+P=E, circumstances + perspective = experiences.
I started chewing on the message from Chip and how it relates to my own experiences. I had to remind myself that this was a season of waiting and growing for my family and I. My wife had to do some healing from some deep emotional pain. I had to grow in trusting God that His timing was perfect and that it didn’t matter what I wanted.
In Acts 16:16-40, we find the story of the Apostle Paul and Silas being arrested because the masters of a demon-possessed woman were upset that Paul and Silas casted out the demon. The demon allowed for this woman to tell the future and this made her masters money.
Paul and Silas were thrown into the inner cell and had their feet clamped into stocks. The inner cell was the most foul of the cells in the prison. I can not imagine finding joy or hope in a place where I am constantly surrounded by hopelessness and negativity, however, Paul’s and Silas’ perspectives were not on the room they were in but on what they were called to do. They were told to go and make disciples of every nation before Jesus ascended back to heaven (Matthew 28:19-20).
The scripture says that around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. There was an earthquake that caused the doors of the cells to fly open and the chains to fall off the prisoners. Paul and Silas were even able to save the life of the prison guard and lead him to Jesus. Their perspectives caused their circumstances to become a positive experience.
We, as believers, need to tune our perspectives toward God and His Love for us. We need to hold on to the truths and promises in scripture, especially as fathers and husbands who are guiding their families toward Christ. I pray this Father’s Day that your focus will be on God and that your perspective will change. No matter what your circumstances are, God is willing and able to help us. We just need to look toward Him.
