OK everybody up! Rise and shine! Good Morning! Remember…nothing is better than this day. And you say, wait a minute. You say that every day. Right! becauset it’s true! I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. How to have a good day….Well for one thing, turn off the TV and avoid the homepage of msn.com. OK, so I admit that sinking your head into the sand or making your dwelling place under a rock, but seriously. As yourself, do you really need to be immersed and saturated in the news of the day upon waking, at noon, at 6 O’clock, and then tune in again just before turning in for the night? We are saturated in bad news and conflict.
We need a vaccine so we don’t catch the conflict bug that infects every area of our lives. In fact, think about it. When we hear about ‘the bug’ going around do we gravitate toward it so we catch it too? Or do we put up a defense, take precautions and fight it? Uh-huh. That’s that what I thought. Could we successfully set up a defense against the contaminate conflict bug? Move away from the television; move away from the Internet and nobody gets hurt. If only it were that easy. We can’t totally escape from civilization of which both the Internet and television are foundational. But we can decouple, unhook and minimize our dependence.
Challenge #1 – Get your news in snatches, listen and read just enough to stay informed, but not enough to take ownership in the conflict.
Challenge #2 – If you’re passionate about an issue, take action and get involved in making a difference there, but let someone else handle the rest. Reduce anxiety.
Challenge #3 – This requires no skill but is the most important challenge of all because it takes effort and determination. Immerse your mind in right thinking. Philippians 4 has this to say about how to accomplish right thinking. Here are a few comments from the Message: “Celebrate God all day, every day. Make it as clear to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Summing it all up, you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Now put them into practice and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”
I know this is an obscure book in the Bible and doesn’t get much press but listen in on a few verses in Zephaniah 3:16-18 “Don’t be afraid … don’t despair. Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you…he’ll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.”
We have the tools, we can do this. We can be the calm in the storm. We can be lean on God, lean on friends, lean on family and let’s get out there and rock the world till it tilts toward what’s good….
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. The battle rages on . . . raise your white flag……https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Q5CxQ24bA
Because of Grace we Press On