Point of View
TGF Friday: 8.7.26
It’s Friday — and it’s a great day to have a great day.
Have you ever considered what your point of view is as you go throughout the day? Two quick definitions that will help:
The position from which something or someone is observed
A particular attitude or way of considering a matter
I was walking in Springbrook Park in Alcoa, TN earlier this week on my lunch break and came across this sign along the trail.
This sign was likely designed for parents walking with their children in the park — to offer a teaching moment about “POINT OF VIEW” as the sign so obviously states. As a thirty-two year old walking in the park by myself however, it served as a pause + reflect teaching moment for me too. After reading it slowly, I actually stepped back to take a wider shot of the sign.
Zooming out a bit, and from a different point of view, I was able to consider the creek running behind the sign, the trees on the other side of the bank, and many more things that I probably would have just passed by. The place where this sign is in the park is clearly well-visited — by the footprints and patch of dirt surrounding it.
In Matthew 6:26, Jesus invites us into considering a different point of view than our own.
“Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
That first word: Consider.
I will be the first to admit — sometimes it’s hard to consider an alternate point of view when you’re in the middle of something. Maybe it’s a tough season, a hard decision, or a big project. Or on the flip side — maybe things are going really well. In these moments and seasons, considering the point of view Jesus lays out in Matthew 6:26 reminds us that our heavenly Father takes care of creatures that were deemed “good” in the beginning — so why would we doubt that he would take care of us — who He created in His own image?
Because we’re humans that live in a fallen world. In the moments and seasons of anxiety and doubt and despair that we all go through in life, it can be difficult to pause and consider a different point of view. But there is grace and hope in the pausing and considering. Just like the sign in Springbrook Park states, it is a great thing to help children see things from different points of view because yes, it does open their minds. I would argue that this isn’t just something helpful for children, though.
That “object” or thing right in front of you can absolutely feel large or small based on your distance from it. As we get older and mature, we know this to be true as we end chapters and seasons of our lives and begin and enter new ones. This is based on lived experience and context that happens naturally. However, and unlike the sign states in Springbrook Park, we don’t have to pretend. We don’t have to pretend that we’re a bug or a bird, event though this is a helpful teaching tool for parents of young kids. As you read the Bible and simultaneously allow it to read you through the power of the Holy Spirit, our point of view begins to change. Jesus reminds us that He’s got our six, is watching out for us, and knows what we need.
The new and better point of view becomes this:
But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
Matthew 6:33
This isn’t prosperity gospel or a transactional “name it and claim it” thing. This is a deeply relational “believe and receive” point of view that guides and directs how we walk through life. This is for you!
I was rucking with a group of men this morning and as we covered some miles and did some PT as the sun came up, these verses were shared - which also serve as yet another way Scripture offers us an opportunity to consider a different point of view than our own.
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.
Hebrews 12:11-13
So whatever you’re facing today — pause + consider a different, and more Heavenly point of view. You’ve got 360 degrees of coverage from God — who walks with you wherever you go.