Blickwechsel

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121 

It is Saturday 5pm and I've just come home from a women's event "Blickwechsel", or in simple translation "Change of Perspective". A sister shared with us what Psalm 121 means to her.

In an hour or two I am going to a town nearby where we will study the Bible with a young woman.

After my last week's confession, I feel that I am making progress in my "good fight", but I'm not feeling completely "there" yet. When I have these extended sessions that last for days, I tend to get a little sleepy, it can even seem easier to just accept the hard life and feel sorry for myself. Do you ever get like that? Most of the time I have no respect for the pity parties, but, you know, sometimes it's just the only party that comes to my mind.

Nobody cares if I'm here.

I'm on my own in this fight.

People are ungrateful and inconsiderate.

My wonderful boyfriend was not so wonderful to me today.

That person just said something that sounded encouraging, but it sounded empty.

They don't really understand what I need.

I get so wonderfully fixed on my little life that I take small, specific situations and generalize them over my whole life, and then a bad day becomes "no life at all".

But ---

 There is somebody that never fails to notice if I am "there".

⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

This someone keeps the perspective of my whole life! Including bad days.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;

This someone knows me to the core, and with His care, He takes away all excuses for self-pity - I can't blame anything on the moon or the change of weather.

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

He keeps in mind what I need.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

I get sleepy in my fight, and therefore I assume I'm not worth paying attention to either. But that's not how God measures my worth.

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

When it's too painful to trust, God says he would not direct me into a trap or put me on a slippery ground - with Him I always know where I stand.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;

Even when I try to do things that are beyond me with my own strength, I have the help of the Almighty available.

² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

The only thing I need to do is to lift up my eyes - beyond my pain and disappointment, beyond human weaknesses. It won't make all the problems go away. But my eyes will have the oportunity to see something greater than my life, to reach out for something better, to see God who invented fun and gave me countless blessings, to believe in love again, to attain the strength to give grace - TO GET A LIFE.

All I need to do is change my perspective.

Sometimes staring at problems doesn't provide a solution.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?

After all, Jesus did come to turn things upside down, didn't he?

• On the scale of 1 - 10, how difficult is it for you to let go of hurt and try to see things God's way?
• After you realize you've been hurt, how long does it take you to even start seeking God's perspective?