this week was all about perspective and, well … getting a new one.

i have a lot of ideas. some are good. some are terrible. and some are just inaccurate. i think i finally realized this week that if i really want to be a person of influence and if i really want to change the world …

i’m going to have to change my perspective. and not just this once.

you see, i’m a part of a generation of people who believe that we’re going to do something that has never been done before. we’re going to change the course of humanity with our witty intellect and passion for social entrepreneurial ventures. qe also believe we are fully capable of taking on a world and changing it even though it is wrought with a history of decisions that have been repeated for generations.

this is where my life lesson came in this week …

There are pieces of my own perception of how the world works that have kept me from considering the possibilities of taking something familiar and redefining what it looks and feels like. this carries over into not only my relationships, but my career and the way i interact with God and how i see the church as we know it. but in a moment of panic this weekend (legitimate panic, by the way), i dared God (not advisable when you actually need His help) to give me an answer … and this is what He came up with:

isaiah 43:18-19.”forget what happened long ago. don’t think about the past. i am creating something new. do you see it?”

this means i have to forget the former things to allow God to help create a new image in my mind. actually it says that he’s already doing something new, but i have to see it. (kind-of mentions this again in the bible in romans 12 ... "ransformed by the renewing of our minds") he’s not going to microwave the old way in order for me to feast on the tasteless leftovers… He’s doing something new. which means, if i get out of my little bubble and explore the possibilities around me … i may just stumble on something revolutionary … something that, if it doesn’t change the world, will certainly change me and my sphere of influence.

there have been multiple conversations and references this week that have led me to believe that something monumental is occurring in my life. that God is actually whispering something specific to all of us that doesn’t come with a formula or owner’s manual. perhaps we’re ignoring it because it isn’t logical or doesn’t fit the conservative views of our Christian radio hosts or maybe it even goes against what we've always been taught.

i honestly believe that He’s waiting for people to hear His voice, and not the voices of everyone else around them … to do something that has never been done before. something, again, that will change the way see the world and our role in it. something that was mean for me and for you that perhaps would never have worked for our parents or our high school friends or even our youth group pastor.

i'm just sayin. i think God is creative enough to do something funky and new with even the most basic things. and i want to be in on it.