I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13
What do you see when you look at this image?
A black dot?
Do you see anything besides the black dot?
Very few people notice the WHITE space. There is much more white space than black, but it takes more effort to notice it.
Let’s say the dark spot represents the problems in our world. The white space is the GOOD stuff happening. There is ALWAYS good stuff, we just tend to overlook it. The black dot GRABS out attention. It’s EASIER to notice, and it’s talked about more!
If you watch or read the news, the focus is almost exclusively on the ‘black dot.’
We can’t control the negativity in the world. We can’t prevent the ‘black dot.’ We CAN control what we watch, what we listen to, what we talk about, and what we FOCUS on!
What we FOCUS ON determines how we FEEL!
Let me say that again in a different way… Our focus determines our feelings.
When we shift our focus from the black to the white, we will begin to see the goodness of God woven into even our hardest days.
Philippians 4:8 reminds us what our focus should be:
“…Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
One afternoon I told my boys we were going to the arboretum. In typical kid fashion, they were like: “The arboretum…to look at trees? Mom, that’s sounds boooorring!”
So I turned it into a game. I let them bring their school iPads and I said: “Whoever takes the best picture, gets $1.”
Suddenly, their attitudes changed. It was a competition! They had a goal. They had something to focus on.
Here are a few of the shots they captured of the beauty they found that day:
We got home and my boys proudly showed their dad the pictures they captured. My husband pointed out that our boys would have missed this beauty if they weren’t on the lookout for it.
They FOUND beauty because they LOOKED for it!
The same is true for you and me. We find what we look for.
The beauty God’s created in nature and His goodness aren’t hard to find, they are just overlooked.
What’s wrong is ALWAYS available, but so is what’s right.
You can not focus on two things at the same time so choose to focus on the good, and you’ll begin to feel good.
Change your FOCUS because: Your FOCUS determines your feelings!
May you see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13
Thanks for reading and find more about my family and our journey at kathrynegly.com.
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