HOW’S YOUR ATTITUDE?

…”Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert?  There is no bread!  There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”  (Numbers 21:5, NIV)

Often during my illness, the Lord has brought others into my life to remind me of how blessed I am, and to help me keep the proper perspective.  Today, as I was receiving my Ampligen infusion, my nurse was telling me about some of her other patients with rheumatoid arthritis that are receiving a new drug called remicade.  Without this treatment, they can become deformed.  In severe cases, their hands and feet curl up, and they can’t walk and are confined to a wheelchair.  Some of these patients are young, others old.

She described to me how grateful they are to get the medicine, even though the room where they receive their infusions is not as nice as ours.  I remembered how often I have complained about having to go twice weekly for my Ampligen infusions for the last three years.  I often viewed it as an inconvenience, instead of a blessing.

There is a quote at my doctor’s office by Chuck Swindoll that reads:  “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”

The children of Israel had trouble with their attitudes.  They thought God had brought them out of Egypt to die in the desert (Numbers 21:5).  How quickly they forgot their gratitude for God’s protection and deliverance.  Like many of us, the Israelites were focusing on what they didn’t have, instead of what they did have.

How’s your attitude today?  Are you finding it very difficult, even impossible, to thank God for your poor health or “hopeless” circumstances?  Would you rather be anywhere else on earth than where you are right now?  I have experienced some of those thoughts myself.  Pray to Jesus.  Repent of your sins and ask Him to change your heart (I John 1:9).  He can make your attitude better, instead of bitter.  He can give you a whole new outlook on life.

Dear Jesus:  Help us to have attitudes that glorify You!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.