When you see a glass half-filled with water, what do you think? Is it half empty, or is it half full? It all depends on your perspective. So many different circumstances and situations happen in life. Uncertainties and challenges make life difficult, but attitude or perspective can make a positive difference. If you have the right perspective you can experience God's presence, power, promises and peace.

In Philippians 4:9, Paul said to learn from him, to put into practice the right perspective of faith in God no matter what your situation. There are three things we can learn from Paul when it comes to proper perspective.

First, proper perspective sees problems as possibilities. From Paul we learn that we must "live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Problems are normal. The key to dealing with our problems is perspective or, as some would say, attitude. When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they thought, "He is so big we can never kill him." When David saw Goliath, he had a different attitude. In fact, he may have even thought, "He is so big I can't miss him." If you see problems as possibilities, you have the perspective that nothing is going to come up that you and Jesus can't handle together.

Secondly, proper perspective sees people in relation to their potential. To the Philippian Christians, Paul wrote, "I thank God every time I remember you" (1:3). How do you see others? Do you see their potential? Jesus saw people that way. He encouraged them to become who God created them to be. How we relate to others and how we seek to encourage them can make a huge difference in their lives.

Your teammates will not join FCA if your Huddle is cold and indifferent. They will become a part of a Huddle that sees people through the eyes of Christ and seeks to develop their full potential.

Third, proper perspective sees the present in relation to God's promises. Paul wrote to the Philippians from jail. Rather than self-pity, however, his letter was full of joy. Paul was pressing on toward the goal (3:13-14). Is your mind fixed on things above or things below? We cannot do anything about the trying situations of life, but we can do something about our attitudes. What happens IN me is more important than what happens TO me. I must see the present in relation to God's promises, so that I, like Paul, can press onward and upward toward the goal. I believe that I can “do everything through him who gives me strength" (3:13) and that my "God will meet all [my] needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"(3:19).

The most significant decision I can make on a daily basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than what happened yesterday—more important than my successes, my failures, my pain; more important than what people think about me or my situation. Attitude is the thing that can keep me going or make me quit. Attitude can fuel my fire or destroy my hope.

When my attitudes are right, no mountain is too high, no valley too deep and no challenge too great that I can't face it with the Lord's strength. Let the promises of God speak to your heart. Pray that God will give you a clear perspective, a right perspective, a proper perspective.