Bills are piling up. An appliance has quit working…or maybe more than one. The kids are on your last nerve. Work is overwhelming. The report from the doctor was scary. The car is acting up…again!
Any number of things can affect our mood and our emotions and turn the sunniest day into one that feels darker than the sky in a raging thunderstorm. The turmoil inside us feels like it may suffocate us. We are so overwhelmed that we seriously doubt we’ll ever get out of this hole we find our thoughts in. Then a verse comes to mind – “In everything give thanks…” (I Thessalonians 5:18) and we wonder how we can possibly be thankful in that moment.
Our attitude is a choice. Emotions may be subject to things around us, mentally and physically, but God has given us the ability to choose how we respond. Paul was inspired to write in Philippians 4:8-9 – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Attitude is everything. It’s the steering wheel on the road of life; circumstances are the scenery. You may not be able to change the scenery but you can decide whether you’re on the road or in the ditch.
Quiet Contemplations 