It's How You Look at It, Friday, July 16, 2010

It’s How You Look at It

Reading: Philippians 1:20-21, 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

If anybody needed hope it was the Apostle Paul; his dream was to speak to Rome. He eventually got there but not as a speaker rather as a prisoner. He was forgotten in Rome for two years under house arrest. Yet, he remained hopeful. He never saw himself as a victim. When we see ourselves as a victim, we are nothing more than the sum of the things that have happened to us.

Paul was chained to a guard, who rotated every 4-6 hours for 24 hours a day for two years. But, it’s all how you look at it. Paul chose to view the guard as a captive audience.

Marlene Jones, a 92 year old, recently had to move into a nursing home following the death of her husband of 70 years. Her family had long moved away. She went alone. When she arrived at the home she found herself waiting in the lobby for over 6 hours. The staff was very apologetic about the description of her room. It was the one nobody else wanted, stains on the floor and no curtains. Mrs. Jones responded, “I love it!” “You haven’t even seen it yet,” they replied. “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she grinned. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t matter. My happiness is a reflection of my hope. I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that I do.”

How is your attitude, your hope and your perspective?

How can you choose to have hope and be positive about what God has in store for you today, no matter what?

REVIEW

How was your attitude, hope and perspective today?

Were you able to maintain a positive perspective throughout your day?

What happened to challenge that and how did you respond?