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"If we view destiny or identity from the wrong perspective then we are in danger of killing off the possibility of living as a victor as we go through this cruel and hard world."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 195.
In the art world, perspective is everything. Artists have an ability that allows them to see a three dimensional subject and translate it onto a two dimensional medium called a canvas. Without perspective, art just doesn't look right. Without perspective artists don't rise to the top of their profession and calling.
Those that know art might argue with me on this subject. Picasso is a master who messed with perspective. Much of his art was a combination of perspective shifts that seemed to throw perspective out the window. Fact is, that even in the seemingly randomness of Picasso's art, the artist presented a perspective that was uniquely his. Picasso's art wasn't missing perspective. His art was branded with a perspective that made since to the creator.
Life so often imitates art. Sometimes our lives are a a shining example of linear perspective, like that found in a Da Vinci piece. Then there are those times our lives look like a Picasso painting. Amazing thing is, that viewed from the vantage point of time, whether our lives are a Da Vinci or a Picasso, they are masterpieces. It is when we start to see our lives from this perspective that victor living starts to happen.
The world is so adept at making our identities, and the destiny we think we were made for, something that seems completely out of place. The individual circumstances that look to define our lives pop up like a random object that can be found in a Picasso painting. Destiny can look as disjointed as Picasso's view of the human form in many of his pieces of art. What can seem grotesque and completely random comes to be seen as a masterpiece when viewed over time.
God is a master at creating works of art. Each and every creation of His is an amazing example of handiwork that goes beyond anything any artist we will ever know can make happen. We are prime examples of God's handiwork. We are a masterpiece in the making. Sometimes all we need is time in order for the world to catch a glimpse of the amazing creation we are. Perspective is so critical in making identity and destiny work for us in victor living ways.
Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 (NIV)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. That's the reality when it comes to artwork. It usually takes time for the masterpieces to be recognized for the exceptional works of art that they are. We get stuck in victim thinking when we believe that we should be able to see the fullness of the creation that is our lives in this very moment. If you are still breathing, the hand of the artist is still working to create what is to be.
I believe that is what is meant by God setting "eternity in the human heart." I take this to mean that our masterpiece status has been placed in our hearts. We know we are creations of something more powerful than what this world offers up. Yet so much of what is and what will be has been hidden for this time. I don't fully understand this fact, but know it is for a purpose that makes my life that much more valuable to the God that created me.
I love how our reading ends today. What's a victor to do when it comes to purpose? Eat, drink and be merry and find satisfaction in all we do. Wow that sounds kind of reckless doesn't it? Is God really saying just go have fun when it comes to defining destiny in this life? It sure seems that way.
I happen to believe that this strategy is exactly right. I also happen to believe that God isn't saying to just waste our lives on meaningless things. What I believe "eat, drink and be merry" is all about is not taking this life so seriously. I believe we take life seriously when we look to our circumstances as proof as to who we are. It is when we try to make what we do be the sole outcome of what destiny will be in our lives that life becomes so serious.
I don't think God is saying for us to just coast through life. I believe God loves it when His creation is just as diligent at He is at creating. We are just as much an artist as our creator. He beams with pride when we apply our talents and abilities to those things we are drawn to and create in this world. It is when we allow our success and our failures to be what defines us that enables us to cheapen the creative process. Our circumstances were never meant to define us as a masterpiece. The fact that we are a creation of the master is what makes this work of art called life, what it is suppose to be in the first place.
Perspective plays such a critical role in the victor's life. How we view things will make this life either one filled with victim thinking of victor living. It is when we view our lives through God's eyes that we begin to see this life in a different way. Though we may never fully understand each stroke of the brush as the masterpiece of our lives are being created, fact is that the master understands.
What work of art are you going to be a part of creating today? Remember each circumstance that you come across is nothing more than another brush stroke. Until the painting is finished you may not know how important that good time or that bad situation was in the over all look of what will be defined as a masterpiece. Go after all that you are called to today. Don't let the results of your work play any part in who you are. Your destiny is assured. You are the victor God has made you to be. Let that fact guide you as you work on your own masterpiece today.
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