Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025.
Many years ago, our young family lived in a home situated on a cul-de-sac. Our home was the one in the center on the end, and we had a nice view of the circle of homes on either side of ours. To this day, I can perfectly recall what that neighborhood looked like, including the trees, the fences, the color of the homes and even the cars that usually parked there.
One day, I was visiting my next-door neighbor, and as I said goodbye and stepped through his front door to return home, I stopped in my tracks. There I was in the same cul-de-sac where our family had lived for years, but everything looked different. It was the same neighborhood, but the view from just one house away allowed me to see a perspective that I had never before considered.
Sometimes it can be difficult to take things into their proper perspective because we see things only from our limited points of view. However, as we seek to apply God’s eternal perspective in our lives, it’s like flying in an airplane and while traveling high above the earth, being able to look down and see an entire city in a single glance.
Applying God’s eternal perspective changes everything. Suddenly, what once might have been difficult to imagine, manage or even explain becomes easier to navigate. This is because God’s eternal perspective allows us to see “things as they really are” (see Jacob 4:13). God’s perspective brings patience, fuels forgiveness and provides peace, enabling us to press forward with hope. God’s eternal perspective significantly lightens our load. (See “Swallowed Up in the Joy of Christ,” by Elder Brian K. Taylor, Liahona, May 2024, page 90.)
Joseph of Egypt spent decades in slavery. David faced Goliath. Moses survived the wilderness. Stephen became the first Christian martyr. Paul wrote letters from prison to believers. John was exiled to Patmos. Mary, the mother of Jesus, feared not.
Each of these people and so many more applied God’s eternal perspective to their very challenging situations. And they prevailed. They prevailed because they let God prevail. They let His eternal perspective guide them and lead them. And we can do the same today.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
