Perspective

When Francis Younghusband first saw Mount Everest, it appeared to be just a modest peak. In his book about attempts to climb Everest, Wade Davis describes how, to that experienced adventurer, Everest was dwarfed by the surrounding landscape. But later in his life, Younghusband saw the mountain from a different perspective, and his life was changed.

On that morning in 1903, the “air was clear,” and he saw “the first streaks of dawn gilding the snowy summits of Mount Everest, poised high in heaven as the spotless pinnacle of the world.” From that vantage point, he saw the mountain anew and realized its magnificence.

This is the kind of perspective Moses described in Psalm 90. He sensed how easily we can be overwhelmed by mountains and other spectacular aspects of creation.

Yet Moses realized that the real key was being overwhelmed by God, remembering that He had “formed the earth and the world.” He existed from eternity, “before the mountains were brought forth.”

This gave Moses perspective on his life. He began to realize that God was omnipotent; that “a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past” (v. 4); that the issues we face can seem to take forever, but God is beyond time; that we can trust Him to shape the world, and our lives, according to His plan.

The cry of Moses was that God would “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12), and that He would give us His perspective on our challenges, on the mountains we face, on how we spend our time, and on how we live our lives.

Ask God to give you His perspective, that He might teach you His ways.