VIEWPOINT

Popular author Rick Warren made these comments not long ago: 

“I used to think that life was hills and valleys:  you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth.  I don’t believe that anymore.

“Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

“No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

“And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.  You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

“If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is ‘my problem, my issues, my pain.’   But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

“When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, ‘God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.’ God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.”

Warren concluded with these simple phrases:

“In happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

“In difficult moments, SEEK GOD. “In quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

“In painful moments, TRUST GOD.

“Every moment, THANK GOD”

I’m going to be working on that advice this week.  I hope you will, too.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday with a Bible, a smile and a positive word!    

                                    RA