Turn-around Thoughts

Good Friday morning! Praying over your faults this morning? Perhaps you didn't start out the morning in such a negative way. One of my aides in learning to put aside irritability and learn patience has arrived at the desk. The other one is taking a break on the bed in the other room. There are times that even one we love might cause a bit of irritation by arriving at the wrong moment. Our hope and prayer is not that they will just go away, though that thought may occur, but that those moments will become fewer until we react only in love. Turn-around thoughts can be difficult to learn. When that quick reaction thought comes, "I wish he/she wouldn't touch me!" We can learn to turn that around with practice to something like, "I am glad God has sent him/her into my life!" The same thing works when that fear-filled thought arises in us. We can resist the Devil with thoughts of God's provision and promise. It works with people too.

What I mean is: we tend to see the faults or shortcomings of people we meet first. The world has taught us to be critical of others, and the first thoughts might not be ones of love and encouragement. Even when a problem is obvious, we can use a turn-around thought to see a possible reason for this problem. A person might seem cranky because his boss has just chewed him out for no good reason. The boss might have done that because his wife refused to speak to him before leaving for work this morning. The boss's wife might have a reason for her silence as well. Someone needs to stop that chain pretty quick or all of us will get caught up in it! As little Christ lights in a dark world, we can be the ones to stop the hurt and anger with a kind word, a smile, a prayer, or even a hug. I know you have to be careful about some of those at your workplace.

I asked my cat for a hug, but apparently there are rules in place at this company about that sort of thing. Guess I'll have to take that up with the company president, or trash hauler, or writer, or whatever he is at the moment. I would convene a board meeting, but the cats outvote me 2 to 1. While we work out our internal corporate problems here, I'll take a moment to pray for each of you today. A prayer lifting you up to God. No listing of anything faulty. (If we all did that for each other, we could certainly pray without ceasing.) No, just a simple prayer that God would meet your needs today and shine His love on you. Goodness! A self-less prayer, talk about your turn-around thoughts. There may be hope for me yet.

Of course, we know that our hope is in Christ. Have a great Friday!
Bucky