This is what He showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”  “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel. I will spare them no longer.”      (Amos 7:7-8)
 
My father taught me to drive four decades ago in Ohio. He taught me to look far ahead of my car and then back toward the front bumper. Look far first, then near, he said. When we moved to California, I discovered that drivers here have a different perspective. Even after eight years in California, I read AHEAD STOP and ONLY VEHICLES AUTHORIZED painted on the pavement. 
 
The prophet Amos discovered that his perspective was different from God’s. He responded to the first two visions of judgment on Israel – locusts and wildfire – from a human perspective: Please don’t, Lord!  Israel is too small!  Only after his vision of the plumb line did Amos see Israel from God’s perspective: Israel is full of iniquity and transgressions and must be judged.
 
As you pray this week, ask God to replace your perspective with His so that you can see people (especially the difficult ones!) and circumstances as He does.
 
Here are more ideas for prayer this week:
 
1.  Reacting to California’s Right to Die law, signed by the governor last week, one pastor said, “The sanctity of life has been lost.” Not so! No legislature determines the sanctity of life; only God does. Affirm this truth even as you pray that the Lord will convict the law’s supporters of their rebellious desire to usurp His place.
 
2.  A blog reader calls us to praise God for His attention to detail. He created and sustains the whole world, but He cares deeply about each one of us as individuals.
 
3.  Lift up our pastors as they study and seek the Lord in preparation for Sunday morning teaching times.
 
4.  The Men’s Retreat is this Friday and Saturday. Pray that the men will be deeply impacted by Saturday’s message about the value of their work from God’s perspective. Pray that they will enjoy true fellowship that lasts beyond the weekend.
 
5.  Thank God for the multitudes of people who provide our supply and support. (See Isaiah 3:1-3) They are the truck drivers who deliver food to your grocery store, the police officers patrolling your community, the managers and technicians who keep electricity and water flowing, the garbage men. They are the people whose work we fail to appreciate until, for some reason, it stops.
 
6.  Cover FunFest in prayer. Continue to pray that volunteers will step forward, ready to commit with willing hearts to serve. Ask the Lord to prepare the way for many unbelieving families from our neighborhood to join us on October 31.
 
In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea