“The Lord your God is always with you.  He celebrates and sings songs because of you.  And he will refresh your life with His love.” Zephaniah 3:17(cev)

By: Gretchen Speer

My energy seems to come in fits and spurts these days.  One minute I am tearing through the house conquering all kinds of domestic disasters, the next I am distracted and feeling overwhelmed by the mountain of work before me.  I have thought a lot about what it is that is causing my productivity to come to a halt.  It doesn’t take long to figure out that it is my bad attitude that is sneaking up on me and stealing both my energy and my peace.  It starts with a few thoughts fueled by self-pity.  An overreaction here, a snarky remark there, and  before I know it I am letting out a self-righteous, poor me declaration.  “Nobody EVER picks up after themselves!  I am not a maid!  I JUST cleaned this floor!!”  Last night I was struggling, once again, to get ahold on my nasty attitude.  I picked up a book called “Joy for the Journey” and flipped through it.  The first thing I came across was an insert from Gloria Gather.  Here is a portion of her insight:

“When we get up in the morning, we have just so much energy.  We can spend that energy creatively, seeking positive solutions, or we can spend it dragging ourselves down with negative thinking.  Either way, we may still be tired at the end of the day.  But in the first instance, we have accomplished something and made progress.  In the other we have plodded along and managed to make ourselves not only tired, but depressed as well!  Half the battle in solving problems is our attitude.”

Reading this reminded me that I not only have the ability to choose my attitude; I also have the responsibility to choose a Christlike attitude.  ( “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God  Ephesians 5:1-2)  It sounds so simple, but is sometimes the hardest thing to do.  That is why I’m so thankful for his promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (the Message):  “ and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.”

If you are like me and have been wasting precious energy on negativity and self-pity, then join me today in laying those things down.  Take time right now to confess if you need to.  Ask God to walk closely with you today and give you the strength to choose to imitate Him.