Malcolm Potts November 22nd 2015 ~ Perspective

I was fairly arty as a kid but nothing like my own daughters.  I remember, when Elle was about 10, being out in the back garden on a hot day.  The garage had a grey-rendered wall and she had found a paintbrush and a bucket of water.  She was painting the wall with water.  I wasn't paying attention until Cheryl nudged me and said, "Look!"Elle had water-painted a perfect nude lady.  She could just look at something and draw the outline near perfect; she had near perfect perspective.Perfect perspective on friends, colleagues, finances, partners, kids, God - it would be good wouldn't it?  Good to have God's perfect perspective.Just a reminder that last week I shared from Philippians how Paul, from prison, reflected and got God's perfect perspective on his situation.  Perspective on his problem - prison, opposition;  perspective on his pain - reviled, misrepresented, appallingly treated, isolated, weak; perspective on the possibilities that all this offered.I was surprised this week, while reading of all things Andre Agassi's autobiography, to see how important the maintenance of perspective was for him as the world’s best tennis player.  Over time he drew what the press cynically described as ‘an entourage’ around him.  It started when he was very young with one of his junior tennis buddies named Perry.Agassi writes, "If I’m a returner, [Perry] is a reworder. First, he redefines the problem as a negotiation between me and the world. Then he clarifies the terms of the negotiation. He grants that it’s horrible to be a sensitive person who’s publicly excoriated every day, but he insists it’s only temporary. There’s a time limit to this torture. Things will get better, he says, the moment I start to win Grand Slams" [Open p96].There it is.  Young Andre, you need perspective - perspective on the problem, the pain, and the possibilities. You are being prepared to win Grand Slams. (We know how it worked out in the end.)Agassi collected his friend Perry, his wise but wounded older brother Philly, his horrible but organised and connected coach Nick, his pastor - yes, true, his pastor - P.J., his gate-keeper and strength coach Gil.  But really they all primarily gave him the perspective he needed as a prodigy from the age of nine.Gleaning perspective is not just a coaching tip, a good idea or wise advice. It is God in Christ, who was Paul's perspective and is our perspective. I guess God's principles are eternally and universally applicable - perspective on the problem, the pain and the possibilities.Fixing eyes on him, giving the problem and the pain to him and trustingly opening the heart to his loving work in bringing new possibilities . . . It's not work, it's a miracle of grace.God bless you as you process what the Lord is doing in you right now.BlessingsMalcolm