Anyone can look around at their life and begin to see all of the problems that they have, or may arise. Maybe you don’t have enough money, your work environment is less than ideal, your house needs work, you are not meeting your goals, and the list just keeps growing. If we were to sit down and think about everything that is wrong, or could go wrong, how long could you rant about your problems? Do you find yourself doing just that, constantly fixating on the problems?
Have you found that when you constantly focus on the negative, you become negative? As Christians we are to be joyful. We should be those who are positive, having a positive outlook on life, but that is something easier said than done.
Learning to be positive is learning that Christ is enough for us. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can choose where we focus our attention. Instead of focusing on all the bad, focus on everything that is worthy to be praised (Philippians 4:8). Think of Paul being in prison, his life in intimate danger at times, yet he still was able to remain joyful. He was able to do this because of his trust in Christ (Philippians 4:10-13). The reality is that life is never going to be perfect, but as Christians in Christ, and as children of God, we can rely on Him, and through whatever may come our way be joyful because of Him.
Josh Schutkowski