Go fly a kite

Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. (Psalm 73:25-26 NLT)

Winston Churchill reminded us, "Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." When contrary winds come into your life, rise or fall, the choice is often made in the perspective you maintain. Maintain a low perspective, only focusing on the negativity you see coming your way, or maintain a much higher one, seeing Christ's encouraging eyes beckoning you forward instead. The choice is pretty clear to me - his strength is available when we keep the right perspective.

True it is - health fails and our spirits grow weak. In the midst of weakness, we can find our greatest strength. It seems a little bit of an oxymoron that we can find strength in weakness, but when that exchange of strength happens, we soar. Our strength dwindles, but his strength picks up when we are willing to lay down our own! Truly we face our greatest battles when our pride keeps us from admitting our own stubborn weakness!

We want quick fixes. God sees things through a longer perspective. We want the immediate - he is after the eternal. The most important thing we can do is determine our perspective for each day. We can choose to wallow in our misery and this world's negativity, fretting and bemoaning everything that comes our way. Or...if we are wise...we can choose to turn our eyes toward heaven and focus on his strength. Faith isn't about what we do all on our own - it is about what we do when we partner with God in the matter.

Do we desire him more than anything on this earth? We might attest to that, but do the decisions of our daily life exhibit that desire and deep trust? There is often a disconnect between our words of faith and our actions of trust, isn't there? We see the wind as a challenge bigger than our courage or ability. He sees the wind as that which will launch us into action. It is about perspective, isn't it? The more we take our eyes off of him, we will only see the wind. The sooner we turn our eyes toward him again, the more we see the wind as that which will propel us forward and create exactly what we need for the 'upward lift' we so desperately need in our life. Just sayin!