Things Could be Better
Why is it so typical to dwell on the past or brood over unfortunate circumstances?
Why do we give away any possibility of happiness and joy by living in sadness? We trade eternal joy, for a sporadic sense of laughter. We desire true happiness; but when we go into work the next day, we begin to complain about a simple mishap that will pull the next eight hours down a spiral of despair.
Psalm 40:5
“You have multiplied, Oh Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet there are more than can be told.”
The past couple of semesters have been fairly difficult when it comes to the testing of my faith and eventually the growth of perseverance. Often do I find myself having a surface-level conversation with another student that results in the both of us just sinking into the thoughts of “things could be better.” Things can always be better from a certain perspective. But am I called to have that perspective? Certainly not. Psalm 40:5 speaks to the real perspective I should have as a child of God. He has chosen me to bask in the goodness of Himself. God has done and thought more of His followers than can actually be told. I am to cry out the wonders of His grace and the truth that is His Word.
So, how do I solve this issue? How do I consistently proclaim His grace and goodness in light of small troubles? It is easy to go along with Nike and say, “Just Do It.” But the reality is that it is a heart issue, not a lack of action. Now the question turns to how I am supposed to guide my heart to gratitude?
I Peter 1:22-23
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
The “living and abiding word of God” is the only thing in this world that I can trust. It is how a believer obtains a “pure heart” that is growing in both gratitude and love.
II Timothy 3:16–17
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
His Word is what allows teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. His Word allows me to be complete and equipped. Without it, I am not equipped and I am not complete.
Psalm 119:11
“I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.”
And to get down to the core of the solution; not only am I called to understand God’s Word, but I am also called to love it and keep it in my heart. I am called to memorize it and utilize it.
Enter God’s goodness daily. Set the time to focus on Him and Him alone.
“You will sink if you only listen to the voices of the circumstances that are giving you problems; because they speak so loud. They have nothing good to say.”
— John Piper
Listen to the still, quiet voice of the Lord and be thankful for all He’s done. There are always things that can be better but God has done so much that the thought of better should not enter the mind.
