The glass …

I think it’s funny when people talk about being either the “glass half full” or the “glass half empty” kind of person. The reason is because the glass is both — it is half full and half empty.

That’s life.

Life is made up of some wonderful, amazing things. God blesses us in so many ways. There is often something good about life even in the worst of circumstances.

And there are some ugly circumstances to endure. Life can be harsh, mean, and downright ugly at times. That’s the result of living in a broken world.

I completely disagree with many of the ideas that popular “positive thinkers” espouse, which really is: lie to yourself. Their idea is, when things really aren’t going so well, don’t face the truth. Instead, say things are great anyway. Somehow, proclaiming things are great when things currently stink is supposed to make things better.

It doesn’t.

So what works?

First, face the truth. While life has many great things about it, it sometimes has some less than great things to face. Face them, but do it rationally. Don’t make things bigger than they are. Simply state the truth as it is. Then address the problems in an effort to arrive at some solutions.

But most importantly, while being honest about circumstances, keep your eyes on the good things in life, and build on those.

We don’t improve on our circumstances by avoiding them or pretending they don’t exist. We need to keep our focus on what is good and build on those things while addressing and working through the things that aren’t, doing all of this with faith that good or bad, blessing or challenge, God will lead us to what He has for us.

Jesus put it this way, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” 2 Corinthians 4:17.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done,” Philippians 4:6.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you,” Philippians 4:8-9.

Scotty