Just Passing Through

The possibility of safeguarding ourselves against episodes of fear, anxiety, disappointment, discouragement, sadness, and emotional pain remains uncertain. These feelings are natural parts of daily life. I think that one of the key insights we must gain is that these are supposed to be passing emotions. These feelings are supposed to simply alert us to the perspective or perception we hold about certain circumstances, situations and sometimes people and places. They were not meant to dominate our mindset. These emotions are divinely designed to alert each of us to any adjustments we need to make either in our circumstances or in our perspective.

The truth is, we cannot always adjust or change our circumstances. The Good news is that God has created us in such a way that we always have a choice about how we see or perceive things.” What matters is not what happens to you, but how you think about what happens to you. How we perceive a situation determines its impact upon our life.

In the book of James Chapter1 the Bible says “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials” to count it means to perceive it, to see your troubling circumstances as a time to be joyous. The writer is not suggesting that his readers pretend that the problem does not exist. That would be lying to yourself. But he is saying is that we have been created by God in such away that you get to determine the affect the problem has on us. So, we must learn how to recondition our thinking in terms of the meaning we place on events that do not go the way we would like them to go. The writer is teaching his readers the crucial importance of perspective. It is our perspective that will determine if our experiences make us losers or learners. The situation itself is just that situation or set of circumstances. They are not unique to any individual. The Bible teaches us in 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” Troubles and difficulties are not something that are personal to you, they are what everyone experiences. So do not hold onto the feelings that come because of these troubles and difficulties they are just passing through.