Having a good attitude when things are bad…….

What is your attitude like in difficult times, when things, are going wrong for you, when nothing

seems to be working in your life? I have been thinking about this today and I think it’s

so critical what your attitude is like.

I am being tested in this at the moment. Things are really bad in my country at the

moment and it’s so hard to have a good attitude in the midst of what’s going on.

Just because it’s easy to have a bad attitude doesn’t make it right to have one. A bad attitude

doesn’t cultivate faith, hope, and peace. It cultivates the exact opposite.

 

Having a good attitude in the midst of hardships is critical.

Look at Paul for example. He went through a lot of difficult things. He had every reason to have

a bad attitude towards life but he didn’t. There is a difference between being discouraged and having

a bad attitude and I think Paul did have days when he was discouraged but I don’t think he had a bad

attitude in the trials he was facing. His focus was on God who was His strength and help.

 

“Are they serving Christ? I am serving Him more. (I am crazy to talk like this.) I have worked much 

harder than they. I have been in prison more often. I have been hurt more in beatings. I have been 

near death many times. Five times the Jews have given me their punishment of 39 lashes with a whip.

Three different times I was beaten with rods. One time they tried to kill me with stones. Three times

I was in ships that were wrecked, and one of those times i spent the night and the next day in the sea. 

I have gone on many travels. And I have been in danger from rivers, from thieves, from my own people, 

the Jews, and from those who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, in places no one lives, and on 

the sea. And I have been in danger with false brothers. I have done hard and tiring work, and many times

I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have been without food. I have been cold and 

without clothes. Besides all this, there is on me every day the load of my concern for all the churches.” 

2 Corinthians 11:23-29

 

He also said,

 

“We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not

give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.” 

2 Corinthians 4:8, 9

 

“Always be happy. Never stop praying. Give thanks whatever happens. This is what God wants for you

in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16

 

Bad attitudes have a way of twisting how we see life. It blinds us from seeing God’s hand in our

life and gets us focusing on the negative. Instead of being joyful and being a light, a bad attitude sucks

the life out of us and makes us sharp and painful towards others. Instead of speaking words of

healing we cut down and kill with our words.

Ask for the Lord’s help when you have a bad attitude because it has to go. (I am speaking to myself

too)

A person with a good attitude sees the total opposite. Even when the storm is raging the person with

a good attitude sees God always! He or she will always be optimistic when everyone else is being pessimistic.

It’s hard to move in faith when you have a bad attitude.

Remember the solider in the story of the four lepers in the old testament? (2 Kings 7:3)

He failed to believe the word from Elisha in a time of famine. That is an apt picture of how destructive a

bad attitude is.

 

And with all that I will conclude. Have a good attitude in life. You won’t get far in life with a bad attitude.

This is my challenge to you.

Blessing to you all.

 

Rolain

 

 

 

Why we need to endure in a broken world…..

This is crazy. There is so much bad happening in the world

at the moment. It’s enough to make you go crazy.

And it’s not just in one place, no. It’s everywhere. War, famine,

natural disasters, economic meltdown, and so on. You don’t

have to go far to know all the bad that’s happening in the world.

At times, the bad gets really overwhelming. It all feels so hopeless.

What is the answer in such perilous times and make no mistake

about it, we are in very perilous times. If you are not careful

your faith can get snuffed out by the bad that is happening around

you. I deliberately moderate the amount of news I ingest.

It’s guaranteed that if I spend a significant time watching the

news or reading it I will be left in a state of fear.

In times like these the prospect of heaven seems really

appealing.

 

“God will wipe away every tear from thier eyes; and death

shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and

mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions

and the former order of things have passed away. “

Revelation 21:4

 

I don’t know about you but I want that.

 

Things on earth can

be so diffcult so what is the answer?

Does God enjoy seeing us suffer?

Does He want us to have a hard life?

Does He have a plan in the midst of such tragedy?

 

I have to say, being born in Zimbabwe makes it a bit

easier to deal with what’s going on in the world. Our country

has gone through some incredible challenges which I have

talked about countless times. We have had to trust God

with everything we have got. The pressure we have

experienced has forged iron in us. The people who have

stayed and endured have come out stronger in faith.

 

God has a plan for keeping us in this broken world. In fact

I want you to see how imperative it is you endure all the

pain and hardships on this earth. Yes, we are just passing

through and yes we are not citizens of earth but we need

earth more than we think. Look at what James 1:2-4 says,

 

“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are

enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into

various temptations.

But let endurance and steadastness and patience have full play

and do a thourough work, so that you may be [people]

perfectly  and fully developed [ with no defects], lacking in

nothing. “

 

 

Let me be clear, without the trials, and pain we encounter

on a daily basis we would not be fully developed. That’s what the

word is telling us. There would be no endurance, patience and

steadfastness built into us. We would be incomplete without hard

times and storms.

 

(let that sink it for a bit)

 

We need heaven but at this moment we need to endure on

earth for a bit longer! You may be fed up with the craziness

that is happening all around you but hold on, don’t give up!

God has a plan and He is in control.

 

So when something crazy happens to you or you hear of

bad things happening in the world don’t fret or panic. Like

James said, we need to count it all joy when those things come.

Instead of destroying us those things make us grow into the

people God created us to be.

Don’t run away from trials and storms.

Look to the Lord.

In a world so broken God wants us to step up, not back down.

 

Let me say it again, without pain, without trials, without storms,

without hard times we will not be complete. We need not pray

for those times but when they come our way our trust should

be found in the Lord…..

He is a good God who is directing our every step through the

most intense darkness the world has ever seen.

Will you shrink in fear when you hear or read of all the craziness

happening in the world or will you allow God to build patience,

endurance and steadfastness in you??

That is the question….

 

Bless you!

 

Rolain