EVER JUST FEEL LIKE YOUR SKIN IS TOO tight? Like Bilbo Baggins on his 111 birthday after carrying the ring of power around for too many years; thin, sort of stretched, like butter spread over too much bread? I woke up with bags under my eyes and a huge zit on my forehead. How’s this possible? I’ll be 51 next month and I’m still getting zits? Really?
My back hurts and I got the jimmy legs. My eyes are tired and dry, my left sinus is always clogged along with my ear from an old scuba diving injury. I have a headache and as always, stomach and bowel issues. My mind is blurry and my feet hurt. My heart beat is doing flip-flops. Any of this sound familiar? I know a dear older lady at my gym that’s had several foot surgeries and every time I see her I say, “I’m so glad to see you here!” She’s learned to smile at me because I also tell her when she complains, “At least your still breathing and on this side of the earth!” We laugh.
And it’s mornings like these that I have to remind myself of these very things, God is still good and He’s always faithful. I’m alive and I have a home and a family that loves me. Jesus forgave my sins on the cross and I’m living for Him, I’m on my way to victory. This flesh is daily dying, but my spirit is renewed like the eagles. My hope is in Christ, not my stinking flesh. Time to turn my mind around and remember the cross and His goodness and mercy. I need to remember that feeling bad never gives me the right to treat anyone badly and I always have so much to be thankful for.
“And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.” Psalms 77:10-12
Probably most of us will never come to experience what Job experienced in one day. At least not as an innocent godly man. We won’t be chased down by an evil king who one day proclaimed David as a son and the next as his enemy and ran him out of the kingdom and country. We probably won’t be crucified upside down like Peter.
Yet, we all will in this life experience anguish. We will go through pain and suffering. We will be despised and rejected by men when we are approved by God. You are not alone in your suffering. But we also have a choice of how we will go through things. Every day you can choose your attitude.
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes”— Charles Swindoll
Choose your attitude today. As for me, this is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it.
To Learn More About Pastor Crystal please visit the Leadership Page
