I urge you to watch the video above. It’s by contemporary Christian group Casting Crowns. If you’ve never heard of them I highly recommend you check them out. The above song is called Thrive and this song is what inspired this post. Well, the song and the thrive challenge which spends an entire month focusing on one song on the Casting Crowns album Thrive. Basically it is a topical Bible study which includes videos from the lead singer of Casting Crowns Mark Hall.
I signed up for the challenge which means I get an email every day this month with the day’s thoughts on the subject. And this got me to thinking a lot about my mentality and the mentality of many Christians today. We seem to have a defeatist attitude. I know things aren’t perfect in this country or this world but is that any reason to walk around sad faced? I find myself doing this quite a bit. I read the news and I find myself ranting to my family and friends about the state of this world and our government.
But, I am a child of God. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’ve read the back of the book…I know the ending…WE WIN!!. God did not make me to walk around complaining and just trying to survive. He made me to Thrive. Does this mean I walk around blissfully unaware of the horrors of this world? No, but it does mean that I should not dwell on it but instead dwell on the promises of God. This is easier said than done. Here’s some thoughts on how to do this:
- Get in The Word: This is step one for me. I find that when I read The Bible daily I am able to stay focused on God more and on my problems less. Some people do their daily reading in the morning but I prefer to do it at night. When my house is quiet and I can take my time and dig deep into Scripture.
- Become A Servant: This may sound like a cliche but when you are focused on serving others you rarely have time to dwell on your own problems. You generally become happier. You can serve those in your own family, your church, your school, your workplace, or neighborhood. Look for the opportunities and God will provide them.
- Spend Time With God: This goes hand in hand with reading your Bible. You need to spend much time in prayer. This is an area which I was very weak in years ago. But I have made an effort to pray more often and more purposefully and I am much more comfortable now. If you’re not comfortable and don’t know what to say…just talk to God like he’s sitting across the table from you.
- Don’t Worry: This is the hardest for me. I know that I’m supposed to turn over my problems to God and then not worry. But it isn’t easy. However, when we worry about something that we have prayed about it’s like we’re saying “God isn’t able to handle this so I better worry about it”. As your faith grows then you will learn to let God handle it. This is a work in progress for me. I still have to talk to myself when issues come up and remind myself that God is in control.
I find myself struggling to make it through the week sometimes and that really is silly. I have assurance of an eternity in heaven. That alone should keep me smiling so bright I blind people. Christians have a hope that non-believers do not have. Because of this we should not be trying to survive life…we should be living it to it’s fullest and enjoying it. We should be walking around so happy that people think we’re a little weird. We should Thrive…not just survive.