For most of my life I have been accused of viewing my world through rose-coloured glasses…. especially by my husband who by his own admission is a ‘realist’ – meaning he purposely views his cup half full so he won’t be disappointed! (smile)
My favourite sun glasses ARE rose tinted .. and you know !! The world DOES look prettier through them. So I love to wear my sun glasses and enjoy the rose-enhanced beauty around me.
I was thinking about this today since it was a ‘sun-glasses’ kind of day !
And I thought about how differently people view their world… some people look for the clouds, the rain, the dismal skies… while others seem to always find a cheery outlook, able to see ‘liquid sunshine’ in the raindrops.
Sometimes it is simply the temperament they were born with, sometimes it may be a conscious choice about how they perceive their day’s contents… but for the Christian, I believe, there is a higher road in the spiritual Kingdom.
The bible encourages us to wear ‘rose-colored’ glasses …. They are called Thankfulness lenses.
Stop and think… how hard is it to be glum or disappointed or angry or disgruntled when you are feeling thankful !
Which comes first … the thing for which you are thankful ? or the choice you make to find it ?
No matter how bad things look… no matter how easy it would be to just tumble into Gloomville….. is there not always something that fills your heart with thankfulness if you just let your thoughts focus on it ?
Whether it is little annoying things that are messing up your day or whether it is bigger problems that threaten to overwhelm you … thankfulness can lift the weight of the burden and shrink it down to something you can barely feel on your shoulders.
There is an interesting passage --- or path --- laid out in Romans 1.
The destination this path leads to is described in verses 29,30 – “ filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God , violent , proud, boasters, inventors of evil things , disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful…”
WOW! who would EVER chose to take one step along a path leading to that place??
Work back to the beginning of the path in verse 21 and you will see that the very first step is unthankfulness which is linked to not glorifying God !
Once this step has been taken the others follow step after step… unthankfulness leads to futile thinking … which leads to … foolish hearts that become dark…. And in the dark it is hard to see where one is going !!!
How often we are tempted to be unthankful. If we find our foot poised to take this first step …. let us consider where the path ultimately leads….and quickly turn our feet back to reflect on the many things in our life we can be so thankful for and let us lift our voices to God in praise!!
And let us also encourage others around us toward thankfulness !
Psa 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
9 comments:
I love what you wrote today.....and I am so glad my mother instilled thankfulness in her children. Life is so much more beautiful when you look for the blessings in it!
Oh Julie, I am ALL over this! This year I've been working on seeing everything with thankfulness, and have added to it by thinking of wonderful positive possiblities in every circumstance.
I think is must dismay God to be planning our blessings and yet all He hears in our heads is our fears, worries, and imagined bad outcomes.
Now I am like a kid at Christmas...knowing even if events seem challenging, it is because God is getting to the place where He has blessings for me. He has proved this is His manner over and over again. I spend time thinking of all the wonderful ways things could turn out in the end.
I was only thinking this morning about all the blessings we have had recently that have looked exactly the opposite to start off with. I was thinking about posting them on my blog. Now I think I will definitely do it. Hopefully it will encourage someone else the way that you encourage me. Thank you.
Great post. We have had an "over-abundance" of wind in E. Washington this year. It's just continual...almost every day. What makes it even worse is that we just moved into our house where there is a lot of new construction. Dust everywhere. My wife decided that there must be some good in the wind, so she started praying about it. We went to see "Prince Caspian" on Sunday...and God gave her an answer...."the wind makes the trees dance". I still don't like the wind....but this works for her!!!! (smile)
Julie, thank YOU for this uplifting object lesson! You words also bring to mind Philippians 4:8.
Alright. . I'll work on this one. . I must confess I was not born seeing things through rose coloured glasses. I too am a realist. Perhaps there are different tints of glass for the rose coloured glass effect. . maybe my glasses are soft pink. . .
What a great way to remind us to be thankful each day and in all ways and at all times. We have so many blessings. Too often we overlook them because of the little disappointments and struggles in life, however. May we always remember to wear our rose-colored glasses and give thanks to our God.
Each morning when that silly alarm rings to remind me to get up...or when my Radar comes and snuggles his wet nose under the blankets to tell me he is due for a walk....before I do anything I THANK God for the day and what it is about to bring. I know that me being all toooooooo human, may not be as thankful within minutes of getting out of bed. Who knows what the day will bring...but a grateful heart at the start is the best beginning to the day.
I like rose coloured glasses...thanks for the reminder to put them on daily! Life is much more beautiful when we have thankful hearts.
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