From the window seat, at 35,000 feet above the earth, you see the other side of the clouds. Even though it is a cloudy day down below, you can still see the sunrise and the sunset. You see entire towns. You can see the natural and man-made boundary markers. You can see what is beyond the bend in the river. From the window seat you can see where the road leads and where the road has come from. You can see beyond the normal horizon.

From the window seat, you can see what is beyond the dense forest. You can’t tell if the wind is blowing. Mountains look smaller from the window seat. You can see the reason for the curve in the road. In the darkness from the window seat the lights are easily seen.

With a view from the window seat, you can see some areas of the landscape that are neatly arranged, and other areas that are ragged and random and disorganized. You can see the areas that are alive with water and vegetation, and the areas that are dry and barren. You can see farmland and forests and cities and communities and neighborhoods.

From the window seat, trains and automobiles look like toys. People, if you can see them at all, look like ants; and houses and buildings look like pieces from a monopoly game.

The window seat gives you a different perspective on the world and on life. Life looks calmer, more peaceful, and things look more organized from above than it does when we are right in the middle of it all. In some ways it appears to make more sense from the lofty vantage point.

From up there, when we are securely buckled into our seat and unable to move about, decisions are fewer and not so complicated. When we observe life from above, we seem to escape the frantic pace of life. We can sit calmly, knowing that most of what goes on in the world at that moment is totally out of our control and is not our responsibility. When we sit in our window seat, totally dependent upon the pilot and co-pilot to get us to our destination, we are reminded that God is the One who will get us to our ultimate destination.

With the window seat view, we are able to pause and observe life from a different perspective. It can help us to better understand why Paul wrote:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:1-2 NIV).

Get a different view.

What do you see when you look out your window?

Problems?

Stress?

Traffic?

Chaos?

Confusion?

Get a different view. Try to look at things from a different perspective. Try to look at things more the way God looks at them. See if that makes a difference.

Then, take comfort in knowing that God sees it all and that He knows everything that is going on. He is not intimidated by any of it. He is in control ... and we are along for the ride ... in the window seat.

 

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Title: "From the Window Seat"
Author: Tom Norvell
Publication Date: March 01, 2007

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell In this provocative, hopeful book, Bell asks what the church might look like if today's believers fully embraced "the way" of love, peace, sharing possessions, compassion, risk, forgiveness, and harmony.

Tom Norvell is the author of "A Norvell Note." He ministers at the Hermitage Church of Christ in Hermitage, Tennessee.

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