Author Wendy Blight once wrote about a situation that required “perspective shifting.”  She shared how a beggar born “‘lame at birth,’” asked for money, and instead of giving him money, one of the two men passing the lame man “commanded, ‘Look at us!’”  The author further explained that this move “demanded the lame man’s full attention to shift his focus … his perspective … from his immediate needs…[to something] beyond the visible and ordinary to the invisible and extraordinary” (Acts 3:1-11).

Similar to that of the beggar, I, too, required a perspective shift in my own life.  For many years, I concentrated on the negative aspects of my disability and even asked the Lord to heal me.  Though He did not heal me physically, He performed a work on me emotionally.  God changed my perspective to focusing on Him, thus, then seeing how He works through me physically.

By having arthrogryposis, I have spoken to parents of children with this same disability, offering them hope about the future.  With the visible scar of having had a trach, I have shared encouraging words of my own experience with families and patients who have or will require one themselves.  As one of the few chaplains with physical challenges, my personal testimony has educated others in how to interact with others experiencing physical challenges.  This has healed my loneliness, despair, and anger towards my disability and has allowed me to perceive the blessings within it.

So, when in your life have you had to do some “perspective shifting?”  What was the difference?  2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” May we fix our eyes on the Lord Who can change all circumstances.

Lord, change what needs to be changed in and around us.  Amen.