Here's looking at you!

The last few weeks have been tough.  I'm so looking forward to the weekend!  It will be so nice to catch up on a little rest.  Things can get a little scary but I know that I don't have to go through it alone.  I'll probably learn more on Monday but right now I'm just dealing with today, trying to do as much as I can naturally.

Life often throws a rock into our path or even a shower of gravel to make us slip and slide off the straight and narrow.  Sometimes I think that we experience some of these things to shake us up a bit so we can regroup or refocus on who and what is really important.  It's easy to cruise along in life leaving things up to chance.  And I think that's what we're doing when we stop being active in our pursuit and just allow all kinds of things to color our world with ideas and images of things we know are not pleasing.  We have choices to make daily about our environment and our footprint.  We hear those words the most in relationship to conservation of the earth, and of course, all that starts with our little world too, but I'm talking about a much smaller picture. But that smaller picture can have a huge impact on the big picture.

For instance, are we passive or active?  The victim of our circumstances or one who will try to do something about them?  Maybe if a change needs to be made, it's in our outlook. Our personal environment includes what we look at, what we listen to, and what we read just for starters.  What do we think about? Who are we hanging out with?  And just in our own room, is there something that may be causing us to be afraid?  Or giving us feelings that we can't handle alone? But most importantly, what do we think about God?  Who is He?  What does He mean to us?

When we feel the pressure of some of life's cloudy moments, what do we do?  What should we do?  Do we focus inwardly, looking only at the unfairness or the hurt?   I'm not saying we are made of iron and can't feel or hurt, but I am saying that we can't allow it to overcome us and stop us from being effective in our walk.
 
And the flip side of that is this...Based on how we react to the influences of our little personal world, what do others see?  When they look at us, do they see someone who points to God? Someone who does what's right even when it's not easy?  Or, someone who allows the world to throw rocks in their path and stumbles blindly, out of control?  Someone at the mercy of what ever it is that clouds their view?  That's bad enough for ourselves and our peers, but what about little kids who look at us and want to emulate what they see?  What are they learning from us?

That's where our influence begins to color the big picture.  Whatever we take into our lives or allow to color our view is what's going to come out.  It's what people see regardless of the facade we try to put forth.  Especially kids.  They don't try to give people the benefit of the doubt, they don't understand all the little quirks of the human spirit, they just see the bare bones truth.  What are you saying to them?

It's our world but it's not all about us. Our outward focus should always be the view of choice. God 1st, others 2nd and me last....always. It's not always easy to keep things in that perspective and I think that our personal circumstances really do affect us deeply sometimes. But that should be the goal. I think we're here for others and when we start looking at ourselves that way, we can stop being selfish and self-centered. We may just find a joy in life that we never knew. It's called love.


So when it seems that things are pressing in on you and taking over your life or your thoughts, follow Jesus's example and tell whatever is casting a shadow on you to take a hike!  Refocus, regroup and go on...because we never know who is watching and learning from us.