Reflection
A couple of days ago, I had one of those days we all experience every now and then.
Some unexpected health concerns and automobile issues with not one, but two different vehicles.
Four frustrating moments in one day!
Many years ago, in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learned a life-changing lesson:
Don’t let a bad moment become a bad hour, a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, a bad year, or ultimately, a bad lifetime.
That lesson served me well the other day.
I chose to have four bad moments. Not four bad hours. Not a bad day. Just four bad moments.
How? I turned each one over to God and moved forward… then turned them back over… and moved forward… then turned them back over and FINALLY moved forward by drowning my frustrations in a rigorous, one-mile swim. 🙂
This brings me to another principle you’ve heard me share many times: “If I’m not the problem, there is no solution.”
That doesn’t mean I’m responsible for everything that goes wrong. Cars break down. Health concerns arise. Life happens.
But once something happens, I’m responsible for what happens next.
I can wallow in the problem or move toward the solution. I can cling to frustration or surrender it to God. The problem may not be my fault, but my response is my responsibility.
Here’s what struck me.
Had I allowed those four bad moments to become a bad day, I would have missed countless good moments God placed right in front of me—moments I could approach with gratitude.
The beauty of His creation. The love of family. The gift of another day.
Four bad moments didn’t make it a bad day. They were simply four bad moments in a day filled with God’s goodness.
Life will always test our patience, challenge our faith, and threaten our peace.
But we don’t have to give those moments more power than they deserve.
Don’t give a temporary problem permanent ownership of your peace.
Soul Search
- Am I allowing a bad moment to steal the joy of an entire day?
- Do I spend more energy wallowing in problems or moving toward solutions?
- What frustration do I need to surrender to God today?
Matthew 6:34 (NIV), “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
