The Blue Church

I had been looking forward to my Christmas vacation for several months. Then, on the day it was to start, I went to tie my sneakers and I felt that old familiar ripple. For those of you who don’t have chronic back problems, that old familiar ripple was the muscles in my back going into spasm, signaling the beginning of my latest back episode. Thankfully, I had not had one in a long  time, but the break that I had from such episodes did little to pacify me. Right then and there I said to myself, “What a pain. On my vacation? Really? Why?” I envisioned myself sitting in a chair for days to come, lamenting what I could not do. The funny thing is that, while I did end up spending a lot of time in a chair, my back problem forced me to be still. This meant that I had a lot more time for reading, for being in God’s Word, for watching some enjoyable shows, and playing a lot more chess than I ever would have otherwise. It also stopped me from another danger that can threaten a vacation, and that is being so busy that my vacation is no vacation. So, after the initial disappointment, I just settled in, and I must say that I had one of the most relaxing and peaceful vacations I have had in a long time.   In retrospect, I now realize that my attitude about my back problem had a lot to do with how this vacation went. I could have easily stayed with my disappointment, and days of feeling down and discouraged would have followed suit. Yet, because I was blessed with acceptance and seeing the benefits of the situation, things went much better. This reminds me of some words penned by Pastor Chuck Swindoll years ago:   “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…..a church….a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past….we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude….I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.”   What wise words. Chuck got it right. He knows what a difference-maker our attitude can be.   I have a challenge for you today. Think about a situation that you are facing that you are unhappy about. Got it? Good. Now, search yourself and see if you can identify what your overall attitude is about it. Once you have done this, ask yourself if your attitude is helping or hurting. Is there perhaps another attitude that you can have about it that would be better. If the answer to that question is yes, then vow to spend the next few days applying that new attitude to that old situation and see what you get. You may be surprised. Perhaps you will find that your new attitude brings changes that make the situation so much better. Or perhaps the situation won’t change, but you do, and that you are much happier and more content.   I am not implying that our attitude is a magic wand that turns our struggles into roses, but bringing the best attitude into a situation can sure help.   Was my back a pain? Absolutely.   It is amazing though. Had it not happened, I would have likely been much more stressed than I am right now.   Maybe God knew I really needed to slow down. Whatever the case, I rested, and for this I am truly thankful to God.   Rob