Can They Tell Who We’ve Been Hanging Out With?
So we’ve had a rough day at work. The slow, often stopped, traffic going home was annoying. The last straw was the garage door opener not working. Everyone at home knows what kind of day we’ve had by our facial expressions, our short temper, and our body posture.
How can we flip the script from dark clouds to bright sunshine? We become “knowers”! We KNOW how we can change the atmosphere in our sphere of influence. We recognize the ploy of the enemy is to steal our joy. So, we one-up him! We resist the temptations to lose and counterattack with spending time with God. Those who know us best, know where we’ve spent our time. When we spend time with God, we are calmer, easier to get along with, and we exude peace. Our patience increases. The more time we spend with God, the more like Him we become.
Who wants to be around an incessant complainer? They seem to always find something to complain about: the weather, the president, their next-door neighbor, their body aches and pains, their spouse, their children, their church. I back out of conversations as quickly as possible with those folks. Then there are those who are incessant praisers who habitually have something to be grateful for and always seem to find the good in everything.
We are products of the environment we were raised in – our homes, schools, family values, our faith. I’m grateful that I was raised in a church-going, song-singing and gratitude-lifting home. We were blessed, but not with material wealth. I was raised having a very sick daddy who couldn’t work, and my Mama had to bring in the income for our little family of three (older siblings had married and left the nest). I never heard her complain about her “lot in life”. She was a PRAISER – not a COMPLAINER. I recall hearing her singing and praying during our circumstances.
We know Debbie Downers and anyone who talks negatively and complains about their present circumstances and challenges. If they keep it up, they’ll even get to go around the same mountain again and again and again! Remember the Israelites being stuck wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. It should have taken them only 11 days (Deuteronomy 1:2). They complained….and remained!
A governor is a control that maintains a steady speed in a machine. What if we set a governor on our lives for a steady, calm, consistent, and stable life? When we invite the Holy Spirit to partner up with us, He becomes our governor who keeps us even keeled. Maybe it feels like you’re getting nowhere fast. Could it possibly be that the stalemate has much to do with negative thinking and speaking?
Just maybe you’ve remained because you’ve complained way more than you praised God for the blessings in your life. What if our “governor” was set to praising mode — 24/7? It’s time we set ourselves up to become the best version of ourselves that God planned for us to be. Don’t we want others to know who we’ve been hanging out with and it’s NOT the enemy of our souls. We can do something about it. We COMPLAIN. We remain. We PRAISE. We are raised! When our PRAISES go UP, the blessings come down.
I’m on my way to spend that time with my Governor, right now. That’s the secret to my inward peace and comfort, and I sure do want everybody to know by what they see in me, that I’ve been hanging out with Him regularly.