Experiencing God's Presence #331

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:30, NKJV

The mountain near my house used to be huge. It was the biggest hunk of rock I’d ever seen. Today it’s pretty small. It hasn’t changed in size over the years, but my perspective of it has. How? I’ve seen bigger ones. Much bigger ones. By comparison, the mountain that used to seem enormous is now unimpressive in its size.

The same dynamic applies to our problems and our God. When we are focused on the enormity of our circumstances, they fill our vision and overwhelm us. They seem huge. When we get a glimpse of a bigger God, the problems that once intimidated us are no longer impressive. He has a way of turning mountains into molehills.

How do we get our perspective to shift? We can’t actually magnify God. Being infinite means He’s already immeasurably large. But we can magnify Him in our perspective, and one of the best ways to do that is through worship and giving thanks. The more we focus on His power, wisdom, love, compassion, mercy, strength, glory, abundance, favor, and any other of His many attributes, the larger He becomes in our eyes. Gratitude and praise change the way we see.

That’s one of the most powerful keys to living a life of faith: changing the way you see. Most discouragement and doubt come from a false perspective. If you’re a child of God but aren’t hopeful, you’ve listened to a lie somewhere along the way. Thanksgiving has a way of recalibrating your perspective so that you see correctly. Focus on His goodness and see what it does to your heart—and then how your heart affects your outer world. You’ll be amazed by the ways your mountains change.

Father, I want You always to be the biggest object in my line of sight. I want to see Your glory and be unimpressed with the size of everything else. Give me visions of You and fill my heart with thanksgiving.

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