Eye for Detail
Dear Friend,
In college our science lab was intense. We would have to use instruments that magnified, and dissected some of the smallest objects. With high powered microscopes we could see the details of a plant cell. And with some of the best needle point forceps you could pick a wing off a fruit fly. These tools allowed you to pick apart and analyze just about anything. I became proficient in using these tools over the years. But after college had come and gone, I still used the same type tools on myself and others. But I called it criticism...
A person who has a critical nature doesn’t just wake up one day and say, “Hey! I want to find the absolute worst of the worst in every situation today! Let’s see what I can pick apart today!” For me this was a learned behavior. I saw and heard people around me growing up and then added my own twist to criticism. Then just like that I was transformed into Negative Nancy! And so the story goes, I continued down the road and become even more critical of myself. And the sad reality was that I reflected nothing that was of Christ! It had been a viscous cycle until the decision was made to do something about it!
My dear friend, in the past I’ve found myself so negative, that it seemed almost impossible to encourage others around me. This was because I was so hard on myself that the only positive words that came out were shallow and empty. From time to time I still struggle with keeping a positive, and grateful perspective about situations. But I had to make a choice! Deuteronomy 30:19 gives us the options and which one to choose. Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!
Making this choice was just the beginning. I had to counteract ANY negativity with the life of His Word. I had to choose to put a stop to this negative cycle! Not just for myself but also for the sake of my children and my children’s children. I have to keep positive words and images before me. I had to change what I watched and listened to. I had abandon some ways and thought process that I held dear to since I was a child. Then I began to watch my words change, and my life around me began to transform before my eyes! As we continue to magnify God and His Word, the little things around us won’t be able to grab our attention!
This is a process and won’t all be fixed over night. The Holy Spirit is here to help us with our critical places. Like me He may show you just how critical you have been about yourself. If you find yourself with nothing to say, say what the word says or just say nothing at all. Today choose life in ever word you speak, every thought you think, and in every thing you do. It takes discipline and eating on Word, and staying in His presence...but with God nothing is impossible!
No more magnifying glasses,
Jess
