outlook

It’s All About Perspective

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

You know what it’s like to be around people who constantly focus on everything negative. In any given situation, you can always count on these people to find something wrong or where it’s good now but it might rain or storm tomorrow. At times, we’ve probably all been that person depending on how much sleep we got last night or the enchiladas we had for lunch that aren’t agreeing with us.

But being around people who are constantly negative is draining. You find yourself being pulled into a kind of Pit of Despair when the person you’re talking to is complaining nonstop and has next to nothing positive to say about anything.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I think the key is perspective. And what helps your perspective more than anything is cultivating an attitude of gratitude. Being thankful can change the way you see your world.

I get that some people seem to have more than their fair share of bad luck or rotten circumstances. Some people never seem to get any breaks. For some, I really think that a negative outlook leads to a negative outcome in a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy kind of way. Other people can be going through a season of suffering and still keep a smile on their faces.

The ones who are best at staying positive are the ones who know that this life isn’t all there is. They have their hopes set not on a better tomorrow but in the One who holds all our tomorrows in the palm of His hand. They’re looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where everything bad will be no more and all the best parts of this life will have only been like an appetizer before the real feast.

The moral of the story is what I’ve probably said a thousand times but still can’t say it enough into my own brain — giving thanks makes it possible to see the good in your day and in your life and to see God at work around you. That’s the key.

Thanksgiving in Advance

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

If you’ve ever been out of a job, you know it’s not fun. Well, maybe for a day or two when it still seems like a mini-vacation, but when the bills start coming due and there’s not enough money to cover them, reality rudely barges in.

Maybe you’ve been praying for a job. Maybe you’ve been praying for a spouse. Or maybe you’ve been praying for something else entirely. I have a suggestion.

Maybe you thank God in advance for His provision.

Here’s the way I see it. God will either 1) give you what you ask or 2) give you something better.

I’m not saying that God is a celestial genie who will unload untold riches on you if you know the magical password or rub the lamp a certain way.

I am saying that God knows best how to give good gifts to His children. He knows what they need best, far more than they often do. He does after all own all those cattle on those thousand hills.

I truly believe that the best gift God gives is God. God gives Himself. And God plus nothing else is better than everything in the world minus God. God is enough.

So maybe you and I need to incorporate more thanksgiving in our prayers. I know sometimes it’s hard to give thanks when all you see are unpaid bills and all you feel is anxiety. But even if you’re alive, that in itself is something to be grateful for.

Maybe you can even try the experiment where every day you list three things you are thankful for. I do believe gratitude changes your perspective and helps you see more of what God is up to in your life. Gratitude opens your eyes to the miraculous.

At least try it for 24 hours and see if it doesn’t make a difference in your outlook.

 

Thanksliving

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

thankful

There truly is always something to be thankful for. Even on Mondays.

When you stop looking at what’s wrong with your life, what you don’t have, and start counting your blessings and finding reasons to be thankful, it changes your outlook. It changes you.

I like myself better when I live out of gratitude instead of comparison or envy.

As much as I look forward to all the food on Thanksgiving, that’s not the best part. It’s not what’s on the table that matters nearly as much as who’s around the table. And besides, people don’t go straight to my hips.

This year, I’ve decided to not just celebrate Thanksgiving, but also Thanksliving, which is a deliberate act of living out of a sense of gratitude.

As one of my new favorite writers says, eucharisteo (that is living out of thanksgiving and joy) always precedes the miracle. I hope so. Still, even without the miracle, gratitude and thanksgiving are the best ways to live.

“The very quality of your life, whether you love it or hate it, is based upon how thankful you are toward God. It is one’s attitude that determines whether life unfolds into a place of blessedness or wretchedness. Indeed, looking at the same rose bush, some people complain that the roses have thorns while others rejoice that some thorns come with roses. It all depends on your perspective . . . .

It does not matter what your circumstances are; the instant you begin to thank God, even though your situation has not changed, you begin to change. The key that unlocks the gates of heaven is a thankful heart. Entrance into the courts of God comes as you simply begin to praise the Lord”(Francis Frangipane).