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“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
What if you could find one thing that made everything in life sweet? No matter what happened, you could magically transform each disappointment, each sad event, every heartache into an experience that you could savor instead. Think about it. You could look at each source of sadness in a new light! You would say, “This comes to teach me something. I can get past this ache in my heart because I know a way to make this sweet!” Wouldn’t life be so very different for us all? Just imagine. Think about all the old sayings such as “A frown is just a smile turned upside down”, or “Every cloud has a silver lining”. Those wouldn’t just be old cliches that make us groan and roll our eyes, dismissing the sentiment as trite and useless when real trouble comes. If we had this special thing to make everything sweet we’d smile and nod, “Yeah, I’m going through something bad but there is something to be gained from this after all.” Sounds silly at first glance. But really all this says is that our attitude makes a big difference in how we deal with, even survive, troubled times. Not that we don’t hurt, shed tears or feel disappointment. Not that we plaster on a fake smile and pretend bad things are actually good things. Rather what this says is we keep faith, pray and look at the world through a filter of hope.
I love this holiday season. We celebrate the tradition of giving thanks in November. No matter what happened earlier in the year, millions stop to say “Thank you, Lord”. In December we celebrate the birth of hope in Jesus Christ. Even those who don’t believe or have a different faith are affected by the atmosphere of love, generosity and kindness. So I guess if we think about it enough we’ll realize we do have things to make everything seem sweet eventually. Or at least our burdens will seem bearable. Hope!
There is a berry that grows in Africa that has a strange property- after it is eaten even the most sour, bitter foods taste sweet for up to an hour after. No really, I’m not making this up!
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” Brian Tracy
“Everything we do should be a result of our gratitude for what God has done for us.” Lauryn Hill
“The emphasis is not on giving and buying, but on being thankful and expressing that appreciation to God and to one another.” John Clayton
“Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” Alphonse Karr
“I would maintain that thanks is the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” G. K. Chesterton
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William A. Ward
Thanks- Giving: those two words go so well together. We should express our gratitude, not hold it in. And what better way to show how thankful you are than to give to others. Reaching out to help, even when you have your own troubles, is a high form of praise and worship. Like the gospel song says, let “Everyday be a day of Thanksgiving!”
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used every thing you gave me.’” Erma Bombeck
Are you using every single talent you have? Use it, don’t lose it! By not sharing the good inside of you, by not giving the world the best of the talents you have means they are indeed lost in a most profound sense. Make the right choice. Choose to be the best you possible every day. Pursue your dreams and passions.
10 Keys to Honoring Your Greatness
“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.” Paul Valery
A group of students decided to go on a mission, one that a lot of us might laugh at on the face of it. They set out to find people who love their work. Now that seems like an oxymoron, right? We all dream of leaving the grim drudgery of work to live some wonderful fantasy of freedom- whatever that means for each of us. So these guys decided to find out something profound- would they have to graduate from college and endure careers they hated while finding joy outside of work? They were looking for inspiration and hope for their young lives.
Think about it. When you leave school you’re full of dreams that you want to make come true. Then you settle into reality -go to work and race out the door at quitting time. Try not to think about the J-O-B until you have to drag yourself out of bed the next day and go to work again. Sounds pretty bleak. But it doesn’t have to be. There are a lot of ways to live your dreams. Maybe you’ll find inspiration in the stories that these young men found in their quest to find people pursuing their passion!
Pursue The Passion.com
