Today at lunch, I spilled my drink. It was a dramatic experience not only because it was a mess, but because I was looking forward to drinking it. So, when my delicious soda fell off the desk and hit the floor, I let out an audible, “NO!” I sat there staring at the wasted liquid seep into the carpet. I was so disappointed. In fact, it almost ruined my afternoon. A drink affected my attitude to the point that I needed to re-evaluate my perspective.

As humans, our perspectives tend to be skewed. We tend to focus on the small picture instead of the big picture. Remember Jonah? After he delivered God’s message to the city of Nineveh, he went and threw a tantrum because God showed compassion to the Ninevites. While Jonah is throwing his temper tantrum in the hot sun, God makes a plant grow to shade Jonah.

The next morning, God sends a worm and the plant is eaten and Jonah no longer has his shade. He grumbles to God that it would be better to die than to not have the shade. God asks Jonah if it is right for him to be angry about the plant and Jonah answers it is. That he is so angry he wants to die. And then God answers in Jonah 4:10-11,

“You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

God knows that we have a tendency to “sweat the small stuff.” If He expected Jonah to have and keep proper perspective, I believe it is important for us to have and keep as well. Whether it be when we spill a drink, in our everyday conversations, while we are driving, etc. let us focus on the things above. Let us have and keep a Christian perspective.