"You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face and show the world, all the love in your heart. Then people gonna treat you better, you're gonna find, yes you will, that you're beautiful as you feel." Carole King, "Beautiful"
I love this song. I can remember listening to my sister's Carole King album when I was a little girl and singing along. Then, I remember having this on a mix tape in college and later the Husband bought me a Carole King CD.
I thought of this song again when I was reflecting on the sermon yesterday. We had a dynamic guest preacher who gave a wonderful message, or at least one that I really needed to hear. He was talking about waking up every morning expecting God to show up. Not in an "End Times" kind of way, but waking up in the expectation that God would be there with you. I think he called it " The expectation of the anticipation of God's manifestation." (My apologies to The Reverend Coplin if I got it wrong.)
I wake up believing that God is with me, but I also tend to wake up praying that something bad won't happen instead of expecting something good to happen. Kind of like the difference between going through life with a smile or a frown, don't you think?
So yesterday I decided to walk into situations expecting the best and not allowing the negatives to even get a foothold. A big undertaking considering my propensity to cup half-empty thinking. BUT...this is something I'm determined to work on. (With God's help.)
After all, how much of my life do I waste worrying about possibilities that never happen. And how many beautiful things do I miss when I'm on the lookout for the other shoe to drop. Too much and too many! So today is a new day. The Husband has this outlook, do you think he's going to take it personally that I had to hear it from a total stranger for it to sink in? I guess it's like when my kids believe what their teacher says even if I've told them a zillion times. ach! :)
So on this new day, I am going to work harder to walk in God's ways and clean up my act...and expect God to show up. Yes, He might show up to carry me through trouble (because God doesn't promise a life free of trouble, he promises we'll never be alone in it)..But He's going to be here and that frees me to smell the flowers or appreciate the raindrops...and live in the "Expectation of the anticipation of God's manifestation."
-Peace
I needed to hear that message yesterday as well. :) Along with his message of the expectation and anticipation of God's manifestation, I needed to hear that we all need to go into our day with an attitude of gratitude. Despite the bad things that happen, I know I need to find the positives in the outcomes. It's HARD! But, I'm really trying (and spending a lot of time in prayer).
ReplyDeleteTeresa, I loved when he spoke about the quality of praise too..when we're praising on the outside but on the inside we're thinking about paying the bills etc. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good post. I learned through my husband's deployment not to worry about what might happen, because it is just wasted energy. Luckily, nothing happened. So glad I didn't spend a lot of time worrying when I didn't need to.
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