In the words of Dr. Bob Jones Sr., “The character of a person is measured not by what he attempts, but what it takes to stop him.” That literally stopped me in my tracks when I read that comment! We often hear quotes about “getting up again,” but I hadn’t heard or read a whole lot about what it takes to stop a Christian. It’s a good time to take a moment to examine ourselves.
You recall the story of the 12 spies told to us in the Bible don’t you? When the twelve spies returned from their sojourn into the Promised Land, all of them gave witness to seeing the same things – a land of milk and honey! The land they saw was fertile! It was producing, growing, flourishing.
On the same token, they all saw the same obstacles. They would be quite difficult to miss…The giants - Walls surrounding the cities - Massive pagan crowds.
I think there’s a noteworthy lesson to be gleaned here: within the two groups of spies, there was a key difference. Ten magnified the obstacles and two focused on the opportunities. Two saw the half full glass and ten saw that glass as half empty.
The glass half-full people are clearly outnumbered! Even though we serve an Almighty God, we often live with the daily attitude that real victory cannot come to our life or our God-called purpose! Dr. Jones said, "It’s our minds that partially deceive us – our own downtrodden thoughts and fears! Too often our fear of the obstacles that lie before us becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy." Even though the obstacles can be overcome (HE has never lost a single battle!) by the grace of God, we often don’t push through the obstacles to claim and live a victorious Christian life.
I have developed a small list of simple truths to help remind the Christian that living a glass half-full life is not only possible, but probable, when you let go of your hurt and fears, and give it over to God for His divine healing.
I) It’s good to be alive!
II) Not only is it GOOD to be alive, but it’s GREAT to have the following:
A place to rest at night, clothes to wear, food to eat (it may not be the ‘best’ as perceived in the eyes of man, but it’s granted by God)
III) Earth is temporal - Heaven is eternal. This means all sorrow, pain, and earthly tears are all temporary, fleeting, passing.
IV) If you have ONE true friend or family member to rely on unconditionally, then you’re blessed! {Also, the Christian knows FIRSTHAND that Jesus is our dearest friend}
V) We will be given both obstacles AND opportunities. Do your best with both.
VI) Discouragement and negativity are contagious! Try to refrain from influencing others in a way that doesn’t honor God.
You’re familiar with a great lady named Helen Keller? I hope so! If you are, then you also know that Helen was both blind and deaf from approximately 1 year of age. She was unable to communicate in any way with anyone. As quoted from past articles, "Miss Sullivan was retained and challenged with her education – Helen’s parents were hoping that Miss Sullivan would be able to teach her SOME kind of communication."
You know the story – after multitudes and months of tantrums, hissy fits, fights, depression, and episodes of violence, Miss Sullivan was able to teach Helen the alphabet through a “touch language.” Sign language! Helen went on to become a tremendous blessing and tool for God! She helped change the world. She taught humanity that what LOOKS impossible isn’t always impossible! (That’s our God!)
Helen Keller left many profound life lessons with us, but let me share one of my favorites by her - “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but no vision.” Profound, right?! The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish
Purpose your heart ~ Let YOUR vision be Half-full!
Look UP my friends!
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