He ordered donuts for himself and frozen coffee for me. I turned the cup around to take a picture for my Instagram stories. But the more I stared at the quote, the more personal it seemed. This photo never made it to my stories. The quote, however, is still on my mind.
Train your mind to see the good in every situation.
The frozen coffee brightened up my first day back at work after my MRI. The results indicated that I need surgery. As I pray for God to help me see the good in this diagnosis, I realize He has already pointed the way,
“Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.”
Philippians 4:8 TPT
God’s plan includes training our minds to see the good. He directs us to keep our thoughts on every glorious work of His. When we focus on the authenticity and reality of life around us we find the good. And the good always leads us to God.
When we notice the honorable, admirable, beautiful, respectful, pure, holy, merciful, and kind, we find God. We find reasons to praise. Gratitude is born in our hearts and we are changed. Our thoughts become saturated with His presence as we notice Him filling up all things everywhere. (Ephesians 1:23)
Train Your Mind
Perhaps, if you’re like me, you don’t see the good right away. Maybe we need to pray through the visible to see the invisible. It’s possible that we’re still in training, you and I. Eventually, in time, with practice and intentionality, this way of thinking will become a habit. The Apostle Paul’s pattern of thought taught him to be content in every situation. Perhaps that’s just another way of saying, he trained his mind to see the good in every situation.
I didn’t anticipate God using a quote written on the side of a to-go cup to guide my devotional thinking. But how like Him to use the ordinary to point out the extraordinary that leads us back to Him?
So awesome