Choose Life!
Many people find themselves at a point in their lives where positivity doesn’t really feature at all. They might say there is too much pain and suffering going around, and that there is nothing to be happy about.
Here’s the thing, you can either stay in that state of mind, or you can rise above your difficulties by choosing “life” (Christ Jesus) instead of heaviness.
I would love to share with you how I have walked through my difficult times by choosing “life” over heaviness. In those times, I had to constantly be mindful of what I wanted to achieve in the spirit. My goal was to find peace and joy, no matter what I was facing.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Philippians 4:11
This was my goal, to find contentment in every season of my life.
God used my years of teaching primary school; He taught me and my students how important it was to have a positive attitude in any circumstance. One year, God allowed me to work with 5 students in my class who had many learning problems. It was not an easy task, although they had the same type of learning issues, they had different personalities, so what worked for the one did not work for the others.
I had to drink deep from the Lord and I had to rely on Holy Spirit for intervention and clever ideas to meet each one at their level of understanding.
Gratitude: From Heaviness To Joy And Peace
Most of the time, the atmosphere in the class was heavy. These little ones would come to school in the mornings with strained faces and you could see how difficult it was for them to be at school and try to get through the work set out for them. Every child had a goal to reach daily. For these 5 little ones, seeing the goals that they had to reach was just too much, and it overwhelmed them.
I didn’t know how to lift their spirits so that they could start the day with peace and joy. It was then that the Lord told me to start ministering to their state of mind, to get their focus away from that which weighed them down.
Every morning I would allow each child to name one or two things they were grateful for. It was such a great opportunity for them to speak about things they loved, and they would tell us stories about these things that brought them joy. The funniest things came out! They would talk about their pets or siblings and the funny things they’d do. Quickly, the atmosphere would change and morale improved. After devotions, everybody went back to their seats and peace and joy filled the atmosphere. I noticed a huge improvement in their schoolwork. Everything in class went much smoother than before we started this excercise. Looking for things to be grateful for, and telling each other about them each day became a habit for our class.
Isn’t this what God wants us to do? To look for and find those things that bring us joy? Looking for things that bring life and taking our eyes off the things that are overwhelming.
Approaching Frustrations And Irritations
At about the same time, a friend and I also decided to change how we respond when irritating situations came our way. We decided to immediately take our focus off the situation and to start thanking God for his mercy and grace. To ask Him to use the situation for His glory. We decided to do this to get to that place of peace even when there were things making our lives difficult. It required quite a bit of focus and effort because we had to change our “default setting” – responding negatively.
How do you change a bad habit? You need to reprogram yourself with a new response. This is usually the opposite to your normal response or way of doing things. Depending on the change it may require some hard work, pushing against your normal way of doing things. But soon enough it will become second nature and the change will have replaced the old bad habit with a good one.
Not long after this decision, the tests came. Isn’t that how it always goes? The moment you want to change something within yourself, you get bombarded – without warning – with those things that trigger you. As if someone is trying to make you fail.
The Test
One day, I was in a huge hurry to get home but I had to stop at the gas station first. I took the keys out of the ignition and I hurried into the convenience store. I had to get some bread that I had forgotten to get at the grocery store. As I rushed back to the car I reached into my handbag only to realize I had locked the keys in the car. I had taken it out of the ignition, put it on the seat and locked the door as I got out (back in the days when this was actually possible). Just as I wanted to get mad at myself, I remembered…
I started praying and said, “Okay God, I am here now. You knew it was going to happen. I choose to believe that you are either protecting me from something or someone needs a touch from You. I ask that You send the right people to help me. And I surrender to whatever You want to do. Have Your way.” Immediately, peace fell on me and I was ready for an adventure!
Soon enough, a few guys asked if I needed help. It wasn’t long before we were laughing at jokes while trying to figure out how to get the car open. It was fun! Maybe we all needed some laughter, who knows? All I know is that God uses any opportunity to bless us, we just need to open our hearts and surrender to Him. It’s amazing how the way you approach something negative can turn it into a blessing.
Beloveds, as children of God we need to find that sweet spot. Being grateful for what we have even in tough spaces. Changing negative situations into blessing by approaching them differently, and moving in the opposite spirit to the negative and irritating things in front of us. We have the power to either agree or not agree with things. Remeber, whatever you agree with, you will have.
Let’s Ponder On This
How do we respond to negative things? Do we get miserable and irritable and go with that flow? Aren’t those the characteristics and fruit of our enemy, the devil? Do we come into agreement with the devil’s way of doing things? If we invite Jesus into the situation then He can turn it into a blessing. We agree with heaven’s way of doing things. We can change situations in our lives by how we approach them and by carrying the fruit of the Spirit, especially self-control.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Let Us Pray
Abba Father, I have been quite miserable lately and I have been keeping my eyes on all the difficulties I am facing right now. I am responding negatively to every negative thing. Father, I don’t have the strength to choose joy and life. But You say when I am weak, You are strong. Therefore, I am hooking into Your strength right now. I repent for looking at the bad and for only having it in mind. I have not even seen the blessings You have given me, and I have not thanked you for that which I have that blessess my heart. Please forgive me for being stuck here. Please forgive me for affecting others negatively with the cloud of heaviness I carry with me. Please wash me in Your blood and please touch me, in Jesus name. I know I can’t see the blessings you give daily so lovingly because negativity is in my face, but I choose to look for them. Thank You that You will help me to find them because my eyes are open to look for them. Holy Spirit, please remind me daily to look for that sweet spot of finding contentment in whatsoever state I am in. Help me to be mindful of finding peace, daily, even in my darkest hours. I pray this in Jesus mighty name. Amen and amen.