Attitude Adjustment

I think we can all agree that at one point or another in life we feel like God may have put us in the wrong spot, wrong body or wrong time. The truth is I think we all just need an attitude adjustment… at least I did. Instead of thanking God for the work and the results I had been seeing, I complained to him about how hard it is. I imagine he was sick of hearing me complain. In fact every time I was in complaining mode he would whisper something else for me to do. I remember walking my dog one day thinking about how hard my life was and saw three empty bottles trashed on sidewalk. I tried to walk passed like I didn’t see them but God whispered “Go pick them up for me”. Anyone watching was sure to think I was nuts because out loud I said in a huff “Fine God I’ll pick them up but I am never walking the dog again I am sick of doing this extra stuff!” I think God was trying to remind me how lucky I was to even be home during the day to walk my dog.

People are constantly searching for God’s purpose for thier life and often times they never find it. The reason? We’re living in a “me first” world. We refuse to grow where God planted us so we don’t take root anywhere.

What is God’s will anyway? Well, he gave us the Bible to reveal just that so if you aren’t opening it up then you will surely never find it. You can be certain God has an amazing plan for your life. The question is are we willing to go through what it takes to live that life? Often times we find Jesus is in all the circumstances we would never choose. Through these times if our attitudes can reflect him, his strength, comfort and care even the unbelievers are going have to look at you and say “that had to God”. We are made to be like Christ and every hill and valley helps us get closer.  The Bible gives us so many glimpses into this amazing plan.

Jesus said “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:50

“The world and its desires are passing away; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:17

We are super good at making decisions and choosing the path of our life and our children’s lives with a “what do I want” attitude. If we’re honest how often do we stop and say, “What does God want?” Not often enough or I don’t think we would be living in the kind of world are living in today.

We need to adjust our attitudes to be mindful of the fact that we were created for the purpose of bringing Glory to God. God created us to live and enjoy relationship as he did. In (John 15:11) Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” .

What God is saying here is, form a closeness with me and allow my joy to reside in you, and through our intimate relationship you will experience what the true joy of living is and will have the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). And when we do that we are giving him glory!

So if we center our lives around what is pleasing and glorifying to God we will be completely satisfied where we’re at and with what we have. We will be complete, content and joyful. Never wanting something more, something better or something new. Isn’t that what we all long to feel? To be Content?

When our attitudes are negative with every hurdle that comes in life it prevents us from growing closer to God and prevents him from working in our life. Our attitude shows the true condition of our hearts and that is the first thing God cares about. Only then when he has our hearts can he mold and shape us to reflect His character and only then will we find true joy and peace in all situations. How is your attitude today?