Hello Divas! It is hard to believe that we are already on Chapter 8 of the book Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst. Prior to chapter eight, we have worked on identifying our “unglued” tendencies and learning how to properly process our emotions. Chapter eight deals with the “glue” that holds identifying and properly processing together—PERSPECTIVE.
I found a definition of perspective that made my jaw drop: The ability to perceive things in their actual interrelations or comparative importance—WOW.
In the book, Lysa shared a story about how her daughters used to argue over paper placements when they were out to dinner. We all know how this goes, some one spills water or writes on the other’s placement and bam…whines, screams, and drama over a PAPER PLACEMAT! Seriously???
Cough, gag, ok …that example was VERY close to home for me. But really, children tend to come unglued about very small things. Have you ever watched a child melt over not getting something they really wanted or over another child not sharing?
What about us? Do the things that cause us to come unglued DAILY really matter in the grand scheme of things? Ok, lets say DO matter. Can we find ANYTHING to be thankful for and then be gentle in our response?
At the beginning of chapter eight, Lysa stated: “Perspective calls forth a gentleness I can’t seem to find any other way”. This is so true. When you mentally grasp that things could really be MUCH worse and you have SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL for, you display a more gentle nature.
Have you ever spoken to someone right when they return from a mission trip? They get it! Perhaps we need to seek out some serving activities like: serving in a soup kitchen, going on a mission trip, or helping a family in need to help us gain some perspective.
The Key verse for the entire chapter was Philippians 4:4-5: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
In other words:
Find some reason to be thankful regardless of what is going on. Smile and don’t miss the chance to rejoice! Gain some perspective over your situation then quiet and settle your mind so that you can respond to EVERYONE (not just the people who are nice to you) with gentleness (a sweet temper that is the result of joy in the LORD).
I think in all the times I have read Philippians 4:5, I totally missed the “The Lord is near” part. When we are able to gain some godly perspective, we realize that God IS near. In fact, He has been here all the time! He has been making a way out of no way for eons.
Have chapters 7 & 8 read for our discussion on Saturday!
Blessings,
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