Why is it that some people seem to have such a positive outlook on life, even when their circumstances are difficult? Why is it that other people seem to have lots of good things, but they don’t appear very happy? I believe that it has to do with the attitude they choose. This is a question we all have to face: Will I have a positive, grateful outlook on life despite my circumstances, or will I fall to everyone else’s level and complain about something?
It’s so easy to find negative things in life. It’s easy to dwell on things that we want or things that aren’t going the way we want them to. I believe that part of this is because we live in a fallen world. Sin has so completely corrupted everything that even when things seem to be going well, there is always pain mixed in with our experience of joy. There are also seasons of life that are extremely difficult, where it may seem like nothing positive is happening. I believe that God redeems the longing and pain that we feel in these moments by using them to remind us that we are not of this world. Ultimately, for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we are citizens of heaven. This fallen world was never meant to be home, and it will pass away. Believers long for heaven, and ultimately, the new heavens and the new earth that God will create, where there will be no more tears, pain, sin, or death.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” Revelation 21:1-4
Until then, followers of Christ are called to choose daily what their attitude will be. Despite the trials and tribulations of this world, we are called to hold on to Christ. We are called to live our lives “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) Christ is our only true hope in this world that is falling apart. We need to constantly be reminded of this.
One of the primary ways we can fix our eyes on Jesus is to choose to be grateful. Gratitude is not something that comes naturally to us. Our selfishness will always find a way to be unsatisfied. We therefore are given the charge to be different by choosing to be grateful. By his strength, we can choose gratitude as the antidote to our soul’s tendency toward discontentment.
As we practice this powerful habit, we come to realize that God has given us all so many gifts. He has blessed us all far beyond anything we deserve. In fact, all we deserve is His just wrath. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:4-8) If God has given us nothing less than His Son as atonement for our sin, how will He not take care of our every worry?
Take some time right now to meditate on the blessings you have received. Try to list off 5-10 things. See if this small exercise won’t bring to mind a flood of answered prayers and abundant blessings that God has given you. Praise God for those things! Choose gratitude as a lifestyle and see if your heart doesn’t exult in Christ, the greatest reason to be grateful in the first place.
If you are in a season where life seems difficult beyond what you can handle, remember Christ’s promise to you. Matthew 5:4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” God is not unsympathetic to your plight. He understands the weight of this world better than anyone else. In the middle of the mess, Christ promises to comfort us and be near to us when our burdens are too much for us to bear.
Consider this quote from Puritan preacher Thomas Watson: "Holy complaint may agree with patient submission to God's will; but though we may complain to God, we must not complain of God." What a blessing that we can bring our burdens to him! He understands us better than we understand ourselves. As He gently takes our burdens and puts them on His strong shoulders, remember to thank him! You’ll be blessed all the more for doing so!
In Him,
Daniel Cable
