One Room, Two Worlds
What do you see?
Verse of the Day
‘Give thanks to the Lord , for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.’
Today’s Devotional
I want you to imagine two people standing in a room. Let’s call them John and Jane. They are back to back, so they can see opposite sides of the room. On one side of this room there is all manner of chaos and problems. It is a mess. Every problem you can think of in this world can be seen on this side of the room. This is what Jane can see.
John, however, can see a different side of the room. The part of the room that John can see is peaceful. It is clean. Every type of joy and pleasantry that you can think of can be seen on this side of the room. There are rainbows and puppies. You get the idea.
At the place where the chaotic side and peaceful side meet, there is a blurry overlap. You can’t exactly tell where one stops and the other starts. It is a gradual fade from bad to good, or good to bad.
John and Jane are in the same room. Do you think they are having the same experience?
At one point, John asks Jane, “Can you see the beauty that I see? This is amazing.” Jane responds quickly, “I know that all of that good stuff is over there, but I have to keep my eye on all of the problems over here. I have to make sure nothing gets worse. I need to know if something has to be handled. Can’t you see everything that’s happening over here?”
John responds, “I can’t see it, but I know it is there. It will always be there. And when one of the bad things has to be handled, I handle it. And then I keep looking at this side of the room. For me, it’s better that way. If you want to, Jane, you could always turn around so you can see what I see.”
So what does my little story have to with today’s verse? This is a verse that is repeated many times in the Bible. We are commanded to give thanks. Why? Because God is good. And because He loves us with a never-ending love. My proposal to you today is that giving thanks is what allows us to see the good side of this life. Both the good and the bad will always be there. We each get to choose what we see and focus our attention on. When we choose to be grateful, when we seek out things to be grateful for, we are allowing ourselves to see the good side. The less grateful I choose to be, the more I allow myself to worry, fret, and control, the more I am focused on the bad side of life.
Some people are more prone to see the good. The opposite is also true, that some people see the bad more easily than others. No matter which way you are wired, I believe gratitude and trust help us to turn – little by little – to where our focus is on the good side of life. Perhaps intentionally choosing to be grateful each day turns the focus of our heart to be able to see the beauty that has always been there.
As with all directives given by God, we get to choose whether or not to obey. Today, I want to see the good side, so I will choose to be grateful. What do you choose?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Are you focused more on the good side of life today, or the bad?
How can you actively obey God’s command to be grateful today?
How can you show God that you know He is good?
How can you accept God’s never-ending love for you today?
Which side of this life do you choose?