You cant live a positive life with a negative mind. Say what? You cannot live a positive life with a negative mind. Nope. You cannot. That would be like mixing oil and water....hot sauce and ice cream... peanut butter and dill pickles with syrup on pancakes. Ok wait. That tastes delightful. Scratch that one.
I once heard it put this way.... your mind is a battlefield and it is there that the struggle is born. Where your mind goes.... your thoughts and body will follow. This quote from Lao Tse sums it up: “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”
It is really easy when things are going swell to be positive. When the bills are paid and the boss is happy --- its a beautiful day. When your honey brings you flowers and the kids sing your praises....when no one is sick, the house didn't catch fire, the laundry room didn't flood. You get a raise.... you found a twenty dollar bill, someone buys you lunch. Wooo hoooo! Life. Is. Good! You are smiling and the world smiles with you
But how about when life is not all sunshine and roses? How about those real incidents that test your resolve.... the fender bender, being late for work, a boss that you cannot please, a grumpy spouse, unappreciative kids, things beyond your control, bill collectors, spilt coffee, caring for sick parents, finding out someone you trusted lied to you.... losing your purse and quite possibly your mind. Those days it is harder to be a positive thinker and so the battle ensues.
How do you survive the negative things in life without becoming negative? I love the following truths from scripture about this battle ...
Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a person thinks in his/her heart...so is he/she."
Colossians 3:2 says "Set your mind (your thoughts) on things above...."
Scripture lines up with what Lao Tse said. When life lobs a ball at me and hits me it creates a response within me and with it comes a thought. Positive or negative, those thoughts will become words. And I choose the direction in the midst of the arm wrestle. My words will become actions and the actions will be stronger than the words spoken because as I entertain them they grow more and more powerful. The choice is ours. Will there be power in the upswing...or will the power of negative thoughts drag us down?
Each of us has the option to see our lives and our day as the glass half full or half empty and it all depends upon PERSPECTIVE. I believe that part of the battle is about evil getting us to see life incorrectly as though we have blinders on to the truth. Hence, we are told we have two options.... a life half full or a life half empty. But in reality I say that there is a third option... a life whose cup runneth over!
There is ALWAYS something to praise God for in every day. Gods word directs us to "rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, again I say rejoice!" Count those blessings woman! Something else that helps me is to look for God in everything.
When my father battled cancer for 2 1/2 years he taught me a valuable lesson. We had been going through a terrible drought financially, emotionally and physically for several years. My dad, however, was battling for his very life! He was in the midst of treatments that were supposed to destroy the cancer cells but they tore his body down robbing him of strength, vigor and life. The pain he experienced was tortuous.
Almost daily I would call Pop and ask him, "How are you today dad?" Invariably he would have a positive thing to say.... "Oh, not too bad. I know it could be worse. I know that somebody, somewhere has it worse than me." This remained his mantra all throughout the rest of his life. He had every right to be upset and negative at the hand life played him. But he chose differently. His attitude choice I believe elongated his expected life from six months to 2 and a half years! That attitude of upward thinking struck a chord in me and realigned my vision and it has not changed.
Yes, we've experienced financial devastation and yes we lost our first house to foreclosure because of Wayne's injury....but we've never had a tornado come and wipe our life away as though it had never been there.
Yes my husband was hurt in the line of duty as a police officer. Yes, he has lost many physical abilities in the course of several years worth of operations and recoveries, but our family has not had to bury an officer killed in the line of duty.
Yes, we've felt the sting of injustice and in spite of my husband's documented injury on the job we've had to fight for every bit of compensation he's been given. It is so unfair and unjust the money spent in this legal battle. But for every unjust strike against us as we battle forward in the courts for what is rightfully due my husband there are a hundred experiences of the faithfulness of God and his provision!
Yes we've been homeless for three months, gotten food stamps, gone and stood in line at food banks. But we have countless stories of how miraculously food and money arrived "from nowhere" to sustain us.
You may wonder, what could be so positive about all these negative things? Here it is ...I love Isaiah 61 which says...
"The spirit of the sovereign lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor (See...we have been poor. Who better to understand the needs and pain of the poor?)
-- He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted (We have been brokenhearted)
-- to proclaim freedom for the captives and to release from darkness for the prisoners (we understand what it is to be held captive by something)
-- to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion, (we, too, have grieved and mourned!)
--to bestow upon them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (We have experienced a powerful God who can and will take the ruins of a life and turn it into something beautiful and meaningful again.)
You see, we know what it is to be without and so we give. We know what it is to grieve, and so we comfort. We know what it is to be hungry, so we feed others. We know what it feels like to live a broken life and rise again....so we encourage! it is literally giving legs to Gods word and promise which states -- You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20 NIV). The fight that injured Wayne was intended to destroy him. however, God has used it over and over again to save his life, to teach him and to move us where he wanted us in keeping with his plan for our lives. That is how we find God in the midst of life. I know you can too.
I challenge you to get the big magnifying glass out and inspect your life. Ask God to help you look more closely at the negative balls that are lobbed at you and dare to find the good God will bring from them. Next, when you are tempted to fire off at the mouth and curse the balls thrown at you.... tick off the things you are thankful for. I am certain you will find a list of things to be thankful for. Read the newspaper. Pull up your online news and start counting your blessings.
My prayer for you is that next time life throws balls at you like an out of control pitcher...you will tick off the positive and like ice cubes being dropped into a glass of iced tea soon and very soon your cup will overflow.
No comments:
Post a Comment