Today is an absolutely beautiful day in Charlotte, NC. The sun is shining, the skies are that intense Carolina Blue (think Tar Heels), the mercury is set to hit 80, yes check your calendars quick, it is still only March 18th! On a day like today, with the tulips budding, the tree leaves unfolding and the birds chirping, one can feel that all is right with the world!
All is right with the world? In the midst of what is going on in the middle East, in the midst of the devastation of Japan? In the midst of what is going on right here in the US? How about in the midst of the tragedies occurring everyday right in our own neighborhoods, or worse, right in our own families?! Whether or not we want to believe it, there is a plan out there! We may never understand (this side of heaven) why things happen the way they do, but there is a plan!
Have you ever considered that the size of your world is the size of your heart? We might not be able to change our past or even some of the circumstances we find ourselves presently in, but we can choose our attitudes about them. If you find yourself in the pit of negativity, then what you need to recognize is that the enemy of God, has stolen your thoughts and has removed joy from your life. This enemy can hold you in bondage as you watch the news on television, or surround yourself with other negative people or use any other type of negative circumstance to make you believe you are less than the person God created you to be. Negativity shrinks your world to being concerned only about you and when it is all about “you” your world is very small.
Negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if we allow it. When we have something “bad” happen and we dwell on it, before we know it we can find ourselves in that pit of despair. What we may not want to face up to is that it is really our choice in how we want to handle this matter, even when the walls seem insurmountable. God’s enemy wants you to believe this and goes to great lengths to convince you! Have you been convinced? At times I have!
Using grief as an example and it is not something I take lightly…. I’ve watched a friend recently bury her second child; I am in awe of the resiliency of her spirit. In conversations we’ve had, she wants what use to be normal, now don’t go judging, she is also taking the steps to do what is necessary to handle her grief, but the thing is, she has chosen not to allow it to become who she is. Likewise when my nephew had leukemia, he said to his mom, “cancer is not who I am, I wish people wouldn’t look at me that way. I’m still Rick. Treat me the same, if I do something wrong, yell at me, love me for me, not because of the disease!” Despite both their circumstances both chose to feel normalcy, and joy and every other emotion under the sun, they didn’t stay stuck, mired in negativity.
Then this morning I read about a Sunday school class of 8 year olds. One of the kids was a Downs child. Try has he did, he was still shunned by his classmates. The Sunday school teacher planned an activity to try and stimulate all the kids for Easter. He presented each child with a plastic egg and took them outside to look for things that resembled spring aka “new life.” All the kids ran around the grounds collecting their treasures. They then came inside to share with each other. As the teacher opened each egg there was much oohing and aahing. Inside there were flowers, or butterflies. One child wanted to be different and put in a rock? Then the teacher opened one egg and found it was empty. The Downs child claimed it was his and once again, the kids snickered about him. But then, the youngster made this statement about his empty Easter egg; he said, it’s empty, like the tomb, it is empty! As I read this story I got goosebumps, as I re-typed it, I got them again. It is all about our perspective, about how we view things. By the way, the end of that story goes on to say that the little boy died three months later. However, he not only shared an important message with those children, he continues to share it with the passing on of that message, through the re-tellings like this! He totally understood, despite his circumstances, the true meaning of Easter and the true meaning of joy. His heart size was huge!
Fix your gaze on good things, increase your world by increasing the size of your heart! Again, I write from a simplistic viewpoint, I am inclined to believe that many times we make things more difficult than they need to be. I’m not trying to insult anyone with my simplicity, but want to maintain that aura of childlike awareness. When we are only concerned with me, myself and I, we are severely limiting the roles God has planned for us. No, I am not a great philosopher of life and I’m certainly not a theologian, but I’ve decided to embark on a journey of the heart and will welcome anyone who’d like to come along beside me!
Looking up!~Barb
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