devotional - day 14

Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT) Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Oh Paul. It can seem so arrogant for him to say those words, and yet. He was such a wonderful example of consciously finding the good within the bad. Not in a Pollyanna way, but within the realistic way of believing that God was up to something amazing, even within a bad situation. Not in a by his own strength sort of way, but fully relying on God for his strength in such situations. Thus his seemingly slightly arrogant instructions to the Philippians. 

And the amazing wasn’t always big and elaborate and noteworthy. Sometimes it was just changing the heart of one jailer to believe in Jesus. To believe in salvation. Paul truly believed he was wherever God had him for the sake of spreading God’s love and truth through the story of Jesus and  through his example of devoted optimism in the goodness of God. That no matter what was happening, God was working. Planting seeds. 

Therefore, Paul knew first hand the peace that comes from releasing whatever situation he found himself in over to God. And that same peace is indeed possible for you. But just like for Paul, it will take years of practice. And even for Paul, he had to consistently remind himself of the good within the bad. Paul was not immune to discouraging thoughts. He was simply determined not to let them reign over this thought life. And again. That takes practice. Just as he says. 

If you ask God to help you, little by little, baby step by baby step, He will indeed help you reorient and rewire your brain to focus more on the good within the bad. Trust Him.