What a difference a thousand miles can make for one’s perspective.
The calm, pristine and balmy ocean waters stretched endlessly into the horizon. A stark contrast to the frigid, snow-blanketed mountains we recently traveled from. Everything felt different – the light, the air, and especially my thoughts and perspective.
Perspective
And yet, when I pulled back for a 22,000-mile view from NOAA’s GOES East satellite that morning, I saw a broader view. A truer perspective of the temporary nature of this calm. Gale-force winds were forming, and would soon bring the swiftly dropping temperatures from back home to our temporary home-away-from-home.
This image reminds me how the story we write about our lives, our perspective, can so easily be clouded by our subjective nature. Life feels good when it’s sunny. Life feels blah when it’s cloudy and raining (or, in our case, back home, where it was icy and snowing). Our subjective experience too often becomes our entire narrative, but it doesn’t have to be. We can be anchored in the storm and refuse to be blown about by the wind and the waves, if we choose a better perspective.
Choosing a Truth Perspective
Truth tells a wider story. When there are storms, the sun is still there, unshaken by the turbulence beneath it. It’s a constant in the heavens, even when everything feels dark and shaky. It’s an anchor of hope in the sun-kissed warmth to come. It does not flicker out when we cannot see it, nor retreat when storms gather.
In the same way, the Son’s presence and promises remain constant, even when everything around us feels dark and shaky.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)
The sun shines above the storm, even when we cannot see it. Jesus remains steady above the chaos. This truth can be our anchor in the storms of life.
And that truth births hope.
Truth Anchors Hope
Hope does not naïvely pretend the storm doesn’t exist. Hope is the expectation and desire of something unseen, yet better than our present circumstances. It’s a quiet confidence that warmth will return and light still exists.
Hope knows this transient moment is not the whole story.
Which circles us back to perspective. Our greatest stories of inspiration and positive change arise from visionaries who know the sun is still there. They move through the blinding clouds toward the unseen light, doing the hard, yet worthy work of creating a better story. They don’t deny the storm, but they refuse to let the storm define the end of their story.
What Story Are You Writing?
Because the Son still shines.
What story are you writing in the midst of your storm? Are you allowing the clouds to narrate your life, or are you lifting your eyes to the unchanging Light above the clouds?
A wise perspective seeks truth. Truth anchors hope. And hope gives us the courage to write a better ending—even before the skies clear.
Yes, the Son still shines! Thank you, Laura.
I especially like this line – Our greatest stories of inspiration and positive change arise from visionaries who know the sun is still there.
And your geeking out.