Point of View

Habakkuk 2:¹ “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.”

When grace flows in, what happens? Gratitude fills up. I wonder if sometimes God looks at us and says, ‘The job you have, that is grace. The fact that you can even go to work tomorrow, is grace. The health that you have, that is also grace’. When grace flows in, gratitude fills up. And I am not talking about just being polite. So, what do I mean? Let’s use the same parent-child illustration. When trying to teach a child how to be grateful, and  a friend or someone gives your child something, you say to the child, ‘what do you say?’ And the child says, ‘Thank you”. But over time, even though we are trying to teach them gratitude, it just becomes courtesy.

However, there is a difference between gratitude and courtesy. Gratitude obviously is courteous, but gratitude is way more than courtesy. What am I saying? Gratitude is much more than being polite. Gratitude is about perspective. It is about the perspective we develop in our child. The perspective you have as an adult. It is not about being polite, it is about perspective. It has nothing to do with the circumstance, what you have or do not have. It is all about perspective. It is all about the point of view, how you see things. That is the heart of gratitude.

There was a prophet in the Bible called Habakkuk. Habakkuk was a solid man. I encourage you to read the Book of Habakkuk. From chapters one to three, Habakkuk was complaining, ‘How come the wicked are prospering? How come evil people are doing well? How come bad things are happening to good people? How come the righteous people are going through challenges?’ But in Habakkuk 3:17-18, Habakkuk says, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.” (NIV, emphasis added). Why are you looking so downcast? There is always a ‘yet’ for a child of God. Habakkuk looked at the grapes, no grapes, no vines, no olives, no cattle, everything was challenging. However, the question is that what changed for Habakkuk from chapters one to three? Absolutely nothing, nothing changed. The only thing that changed was his perspective.

In chapter two, Habakkuk set his watch to see what God will say and his perspective changed. In chapter three, even though the situation had not changed, his perspective had changed. And because his perspective changed, he could be grateful because he could now see as he ought to see. I pray that you will see as you ought to see in the Mighty Name of Jesus.

Prayer: Father, help me to see as I ought to see in every situation, in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!