Many people look at their lives as a disappointment compared to what they had planned. However, looking at things with a spiritual base can help put things in perspective. For instance, what you think of as worldly failure could be considered progress in terms of God's plan. Just because something bad happened to you does not mean you didn't learn what God wanted you to learn for your good. It just might not be evident until a later age.
It sounded interesting to make a chart to show some of the differences in how a human might interpret an "event" in their life and how God might interpret it. The view of a human is on the left and the view from God's perspective is on the right. The views from God are interpretations based on Scripture.
MisfortuneMisfortune Necessary discipline
Job loss Something better in mind
Despair Your dependence on God
Coincidence God working
Trials Your bad choices
Miracles God’s presence
Unanswered prayer God answering prayer in a way not expected
Guilt Increase self knowledge
Talent Gift from God
Trying to be what you were not meant to be Sin
Suffering Experiencing firsthand what Jesus went through on earth
Good luck God’s grace
Following a rigid set of rules needlessly Expose weakness and show need for a Savior
Fear Self absorption
Lucky break God rewarding you for helping yourself
Setback God teaching you something not yet revealed
Overwhelmed Answer of why to look for God
A person could ask why this is significant, if it is at all.
- It can make life events seem more manageable if they happened for a good reason.
- When you act how you were created to be it leads to less problems overall. Jesus calls his way a "lighter yoke" than the way of the world.
- God wants what is best for you in the LONG term, which is your salvation.
For some people considering God's view of things is referred to as a "spiritual awakening." Whatever you call it it can change how you look at your life.
This can be beneficial to your health, to finding hidden "talents", to your conscience, to give you the motivation to keep trying or to help you get through times that are difficult.
From the author's experience a spiritual awakening is like a fresh start. It does not necessarily erase your old problems, but it enables to use God's grace to try to get through them. The frustrations of worldly life are easier to get through if you think about your real long term goal, which is to go to heaven for eternity. Even if you think that doesn't effect your day today at some point it will. It is good to know there is still time to work on the things God wants you to work on.
It is important to remember that God is still working with you and you are only aware of part of the picture.
Are the problems you face today large compared with eternity?
This adds meaning to life because: Many people in modern society are disappointed by how their lives turned out in relation to what they had planned. However, God looks at things different than humans do and what your life led to might be just what he planned all along. God is not finished working with you.
You might also be interested in:
God's View Of Mankind
God's View Of Man
Can God Be Disappointed In Us?