It was one of those days—I couldn’t wait till it was over. Ever have one of those? Not wanting to feel blue, I called one of my children to cheer her up (she had had a bike accident that day). As I sought for words to encourage her—guess what happened? I received encouragement.
After hanging up the phone, I was reminded of a story of a woman who was riding in an airplane. Looking out the window on one side of the plane, she saw storm clouds and a darkened sky, but on the other side of the plane it was sunny and bright. She commented that life is like that. We can choose to look at the dark circumstances in our lives and focus on them, or we can choose to look at the bright side and be thankful for our blessings.
Here is a verse that challenges me:
“Thank God in everything (no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks) for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ” (1Thessalonians 5:18 AMP).
I don’t think this verse means we thank God for whatever bad thing happens, just that He wants us to be thankful for who He is, what He has done for us and that we are never alone, even in the midst of trying times.
Sometimes when things are not going well, I look at news headlines. As I read about crimes, chaos and disasters, I thank God that as bad as my day has been, it could have been worse.
Which side of the plane are you looking out of today? Is there someone you might encourage? How do you encourage yourself?