Up or Down – Part 2

Have you been around someone who’s always negative? At some point, your sympathies wear thin and you begin to steer clear of Ms. Negativity. As you wander away, be careful. You might accidentally stumble into the polar opposite. As much as negativity can be a conversation killer, being around someone who pretends that everything is great, even when it isn’t, has its own challenges.In my last post, I asked you to consider how your words impact you. The words we speak about our own life either breathe hope and courage or dissatisfaction and negativity into our circumstances. I don’t know about you, but I need as much courage as possible. There are enough pains in this world that we have to navigate, we don’t need to contribute to our own struggle. Negativity will eat away at us… and faking happiness is just as detrimental.So, how on earth are we to speak in a way that’s honest, yet positive?I’ve contemplated this question for several days. Scripture has a lot to say about our words. Proverbs alone has enough to set us straight in many situations:

“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9, ESV)“Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” (Proverbs 21:23, ESV)“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2, ESV)

Incredible truths are in these words: don’t gossip; don’t talk too much; don’t brag. But I still come back to the question regarding our own journey… How can I be positive, yet remain honest? How do I keep my conversations with others (and even myself) from making matters worse?Pain is real and we all experience it on a frequent basis. We need to be able to express our struggles in a way that the Lord can use other believers to encourage, guide, or challenge us. Bottling everything up and telling ourselves that everything is okay won’t last long.Last week, I believe the Lord let me see the key to this tension. A sweet friend recently went for some pretty serious medical tests. The results? A lifelong diagnosis that could send any one of us into a tailspin. When I asked her how she was processing, she said, “After seeing all of the other people that had their own medical struggles, I realized mine could be so much worse. God will guide us through this.”Ladies, the secret sauce is perspective. If we’re going through a challenge, our first stop needs to be on our knees to ask God to show us His perspective. It’s not simply knowing someone else has it worse, but it’s knowing that God will guide you through. When you start from this premise, the Lord protects you from your own worse thoughts and gives you a way to trust Him. Will there be days when we have to fight to maintain that perspective? Yes! Yet, rest assured, the Lord says His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).Let me know… how has God’s perspective helped you through a trying time?