In this episode of the Weekday Podcast, Pastor Chuck encourages listeners to shift their perspective and see life through heaven’s lens rather than earthly limitations. Using Colossians 3:2 as a key verse, he highlights how social media fuels comparison, leading to dissatisfaction and anxiety. He shares a personal story about cataract surgery, illustrating how a new lens transformed his vision—just as a spiritual shift can bring clarity. By focusing on God's promises rather than worldly pressures, setbacks can become setups for growth. He challenges listeners to replace comparison with gratitude, recognizing their blessings to maintain a God-centered perspective.
Hi, everybody. Pastor Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast where today let's talk about having a shift in our perspective. How do we see through heaven's lens? Now, this key scripture I want us to focus in on is found in Colossians 3:2, where it says, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Friends, you and I, we live in a world of constant comparison. Social media gives us a front row seat to everyone's highlight reel. The perfect vacation, the perfect family, the perfect career, the perfect meal. And if we're not careful, we can fall into the trap of thinking, why isn't my life like that? This is why psychologists call doom scrolling. I mean, it leads to feelings of dissatisfaction, envy, anxiety, and often depression. That's why they call it doom scrolling. But what if we saw life through heaven's lens instead of earth's limitations?
Recently? Well, not recently. A few months ago, it being 2024 at least, I had cataract surgery on both eyes. Now, that's a sure sign you're getting older. My doctor had been saying for years, we'll keep an eye on it, we'll keep an eye on it. And I had just assumed, you know what? We just keep an eye on it till I die. And then last year, probably just springtime or so, he said, oh, after going in and having him check my eyes, thinking it was time to just upgrade a prescription, he said, I think it's time to deal with your cataracts. Well, it completely changed my vision. Before the surgery, if I didn't wear glasses, everything was cloudy, everything was blurred. But after the doctor removed the cataract and replaced the lens, everything became clear. I could see colors more vividly. I could read without glasses. I even enjoy buying regular sunglasses for the first time in 30 plus years. You know, when they slid that lens into my retina, I came down the next morning and put on my reading glasses like normal, tried to read, and I thought, doggone it, it didn't work. And then I took them off and realized, oh my, I can read perfectly.
And our life, our perspective can get clouded. Like eyes with cataracts, they can get blurry and they can totally be off vision if I don't have the right prescription. When we look at the world through the lens of social media, our modern culture, or other people's expectations. Ouch. We will always feel inadequate, but when we shift our perspective to seeing things through God's lens, everything changes. God's lens changes the whole thing.
Colossians 3 reminds us to set our minds on things above. When we focus on God's promises instead of the world's pressures, we see life differently. What might it look like when we recognize that maybe a setback could have been a setup for your comeback? What feels like a loss might be a lesson that God's using to prepare you for the future? If you're stuck in traffic this week, maybe you're frustrated, you're late, you're just tired of traffic. You don't like the guys cutting in front of you. You don't like the stress of it all. What if you just stopped? And rather than doing the easy thing and just getting frustrated and angry, what if we saw this as a moment in which God might be giving you that time to slow down, to pray, to listen to a message or worship? It's all about perspective.
This week. Every time you feel tempted to compare yourself to someone else, stop and write down two blessings you already have. Gratitude is one of the fastest ways to shift your perspective from earth's limitations to to heaven's lenses. Don't miss that, and I trust today you'll have a wonderful day. Rather than comparison, just live in gratitude.
God bless you, friend. Look through the right lens. Bye now.
