You all know Rick Warren? He's the guy who wrote "Purpose Driven Life".
There's an interview he gave once that I received as an email a while ago. I loved it so much that I keep it with me almost all the time. I read it at least once a week for focus.
Here's just a portion of that interview.
Life is a series of problems:
Either you are in one now, you're coming out of one or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character then your comfort; God is more interested in making your life Holy then making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ-likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife Kay getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys- you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain. But one of the easiest way to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
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3 comments:
Rough day? Some are just tougher than others, aren't they? I got that email with the same interview, and I have it saved in my happy things folder at work. Literally, that's the name of the folder in outlook! On a rough day, I open up that folder and read one of the inspiring or silly emails that I have saved. A little perspective always helps! I love you!
Farrah
Just in case I haven't told you enough, I Love You!!!!
Mom
I don't know if you were at church Sunday morning... it is hard to keep up with everyone in the sea of faces. But, that is exactly what the guest speaker talked about. I am sure it is on the church website... go have a listen.
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