Perspective . . .

September 16th, 2022

Today's blog is brought to you straight from the heart of our very own Dave Glander. Get ready to laugh, reflect, reframe your thoughts, and rejoice in God's timing and plan for your life ... and in the process, to see things in perspective.

I remember the time that I finally learned patience.

My wife and I used to carpool for a very long ride to work through Atlanta traffic. What should normally be a 45-minute commute would often turn into a nearly two-hour crawling nightmare. So, when you compound that situation with another one—well, let’s just say, I wasn’t a Christian at the time and may have had some minor road rage.

This particular situation occurred a couple of weeks before Christmas, and my wife worked right across the street from the busiest mall in the Atlanta area. I was trying to make it to her building to pick her up to go home, but the mall traffic in the area was just absolutely absurd. I mean, I may have moved 10 feet in about 45 minutes. My inner anger was welling up, and I found myself cursing at the fact that the light would change, and no one would cross through.

About that time, I looked at the other cars around me and noticed that everyone was screaming out loud (to themselves) and banging their fists into the steering wheels. At once, I started to giggle and wonder if that’s how I looked. I mean, I was pretty much doing the same thing as they were doing. Spontaneously, my giggle turned into a full-out laugh. I began to think about how ridiculous I must’ve looked, like everyone else around me.

At that moment, I learned to just simply sit and be patient—realizing that there was truly nothing I could do to change the surrounding circumstances. I then turned up the Christmas music (which I love and start singing on Thanksgiving Day), and I just sang my heart out with joy and patience that I had never had before.

Fast-forward to today—September 11, 2022—a day in which I had a horrible experience at the airport. The flight I was supposed to board got cancelled, which isn’t normally a big deal, but I was at a small airport that offers very few outgoing flights that I could rebook. I spent over three hours standing at the “courtesy” desk, only to be told over and over again, “We’re sorry, Sir; there are no flights available for the next four days.” Four Days!!! What am I supposed to do for four days in this Podunk town in the middle of nowhere? Not to mention, I just wanted to be home!

I went over to the car rental station to see if I could rent a car to drive the three hours to Chicago, but there were no cars available for an unforeseen amount of time. I tried other airports nearby that maybe a friend in the area could take me to, but nothing was available. Every known flight was already full.

In full transparency, I’m so glad that traffic issue long ago taught me patience, and how now living a life through Christ has taught me even more patience, because the scene at the airport was a madhouse. Just like the people within the cars around me on that fateful day, people around me trying to rebook were becoming very angry and starting to lose their patience.

All of a sudden, it hit me like a bag of bricks… EXACTLY 21 years ago, on this day, hundreds of people boarded four airplanes and never made it home alive. Is my situation of a cancelled flight even a problem?

I found myself thanking Jesus for the situation and praised the fact that His goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Now that I had an extra night in a strange hotel all by myself, I began thinking about the rest of my life in relation to what had happened today and what happened 21 years ago. In what other areas have I allowed stress or worry to overshadow the blessing that God has poured out over my life?

I love the fact that Jesus was almost condescending at times when asking deep questions regarding our attitudes toward life. He asked, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27). I also love it when science validates Scripture! According to WebMD, “Psychological distress, even at relatively low levels, is linked to an increased risk of death, a large new study shows.”

I’ve come to the point in my walk with God where I feel like complaining about circumstances is really showing contempt for what God is doing in our lives, as though what He is doing isn’t good enough.

Forgive me for throwing a potential low blow right now, but I’ve come to the point in my walk with God where I feel like complaining about circumstances is really showing contempt for what God is doing in our lives, as though what He is doing isn’t good enough. Let me qualify that statement a bit: I’m crazy enough to believe that God is in control, inasmuch as I relinquish control to Him. I try to live a sold-out life for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to the point where I believe that if something happens that I may think is bad—it’s really for my good.

The Bible tells us to “not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6). Scripture clearly promises that we should, “know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)

Do you love God? Are you walking in the calling He has purposed for you? If you can honestly answer “YES” to both of those questions, then stop worrying about it and know that whatever you’re going through, HE IS IN CONTROL! What may seem like a setback, or an inconvenience is likely Him watching out for your best interest for, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). The only thing that can stop God’s good and perfect gift is you, and by complaining or worrying, you may just be doing that!

I want to close with something that I learned years ago in the most unlikely place, Jamaica. While on a trip there, the locals kept repeating a saying I had heard my whole life from them, but this time, I was on their turf, so I wanted to know if there was truly any meaning behind the often-repeated statement, “No problem, Mon!” I am a curious person who asks a lot of questions, so being true to myself, I got up the nerve to challenge this seemingly empty statement they make.

To my surprise, I got an answer I never expected to get. Instead of them just blowing it off as just a saying of unknown origins, our contact said the most profound thing that I will never forget. She said, [in my best Jamaican accent] “In Jamaica, man, we have no problems. We only have situations. And we deal with our situations before they turn into problems.” Boom! Mic Drop! Stop the train!!! What she just said transformed the trajectory of my life in how I view things.

When something seems overwhelming, simply calm down and truly lean into Jesus, not your own understanding.

Things come up … that’s just a fact! How you respond to those things determines whether they are a situation, or a problem. Problems cause worry, situations are fleeting. Again, the Bible speaks to this directly. Jesus offers us this relief in any situation; “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30). When something seems overwhelming, simply calm down and truly lean into Jesus, not your own understanding. Trust that He is at work and is fully capable of handling your situation … don’t let it turn into a problem.

I know that seems like I’m saying it’s easy, and it’s not sometimes, but here’s a simple way to BEGIN doing this. “… whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Trust me, when troubles come, if you’ll stop, breathe, and focus on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise, you will stop screaming and banging on your steering wheel, and realize that your canceled flight may be a blessing in disguise!

I ended up at a hotel a half mile away with a Subway in the parking lot, indoor heated swimming pool, a really soft bed, and a goodnight video call to my wife to say I’ll see you tomorrow instead of today. I was given so MUCH MORE than those hundreds of people who never got a chance to say that 21 years ago today … perspective.

To learn more about Dave or to book him as a speaker for an upcoming event, please click HERE.

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