The Scale of Positivity
There was a period of time in the evening when I was feeling so negative about everything I had to do, that even my husband asked if I was ok!
Reference: Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. (Psalm 144:1 NIV)
Explore: The other day I set myself a challenge: I was going to be positive. No matter what happened throughout my day I was going to try and see it in a positive light and not allow myself to be brought down by what was going on.
My day got busy and this challenge slipped my mind until I was heading to bed at night. Even though I had forgotten about being positive I looked back on my day to see how well I had done.
The first couple of hours seemed to go smoothly, but then I remembered a criticism a colleague had given to me and from that moment onwards my positivity went down hill. In fact, there was a period of time in the evening when I was feeling so negative about everything I had to do, that even my husband asked if I was ok!
On a scale of positivity from 1-10, I think that day ranked no higher than a 3.
Application: Life is not always easy and challenges can be thrown our way on any day. That is not a variable, it’s a given.
What can be changed, however, is how we allow those challenges to impact upon us. We can let them bring us down – like my colleagues comment did to me – or you can take hold of the issue and put it behind you.
When you are in the moment of negativity it can be hard to change your perspective, however, it can make a bad day turn into just a bad moment.
The writer of Psalm 144 seemed to be going through some pretty big challenges and there are verses when it sounds like he is allowing his situation to make him negative. However, the one thing he does right at the beginning of the psalm is, Praise The Lord.
This doesn’t mean that his challenges have gone away – in the contrary – but it does show that he is bringing the positive hope in God into his life. God desires for us to do the same. When life gives you troubles, bring them with confidence to God.
Prayer: Share your own troubles with God in prayer.
On a scale of positivity from 1-10, how have you gone in the last 24 hours?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.