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My Two Cents
by Rev Chuck Behrens
February, 2015
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Past Articles |
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Well are you? Are you a
true and true, through and through an Eeyore at heart?
Some of our fun family memories are the days when I would read stories to
the kids. And I did my best to bring those old stories to life. I remember
one of their favorites was Winnie the Pooh. So we had Winnie the Pooh, and
Piglet, and Christopher Robin. And of course, Eeyore. Remember the donkey
in Winnie the Pooh? He's the one that usually managed to see the dark side
of everything. (Here go the voices, can't help it!) There always seemed to
be something wrong in Eeyore's world.
Do you know an Eeyore? Are you an Eeyore?
If you look in the dictionary you'll see hundreds of words that began with
self. But there are few of them as damaging as self-pity. Here's the cure.
Nehemiah had been through all kinds of burdens, challenges, attacks.
Here's what he said, "Do not grieve. For the joy of the Lord is your
strength." This joy of the Lord has nothing to do with your environment.
It has to do with your in-vironment.
See, this joy gives the ability to look for God in any situation and ask
the question, "How could God use this?" Now you might not particularly
like what's going on right now, but you know it had to pass through God's
hands before it gets to you. He's okayed it. God wouldn't okay it if He
wasn't able to work through this, if He didn't have a purpose in allowing
it. Where's He at work here. Focus on what's good about the situation,
what could be good. Concentrate on the positive.
Sometimes when I'm tired and I'm stressed, I hear Eeyore coming out of my
mouth. Oh yeah, complain, feel negative, seeing the problems. I'm
critical. You know, "This could go wrong. This is looking bad. Boy, this
is looking pretty bleak." What happens? I make a gray day darker because I
drag everybody else down with me, with an Eeyore complex. It's amazing how
a negative person can be a cloud that blots out the sun for everybody.
Play back the tapes of some of your recent conversations. What do you
hear? Is it the joy of the Lord? Or do you hear a lot of "poor me" talk?
We all remember a day when we woke up early, really depleted. I mean
really depleted. Marathon schedules, unending demands, killer deadlines,
un-realistic expectations on our time and talents, the quest for more and
more, faster and faster, give it to me now YESTERDAY pressures. It's
unending and vice-like pressure...but, here's the Eeyore Destroyer: "The
joy of the Lord is your strength."
Conversely, I'll tell you, there is nothing that will de-energize you
faster than complaining and self-pity and down talk - negative talk; that
STINKIN' THINKIN'. When you look out a dirty window, everything looks
dirty. The joy of the Lord cleans that window through which you're looking
at everything in your life. Look for the Lord. God sightings throughout
your day. Look for His goodness all through your day. Talk up the good
things.
Oh, and if you hear the voice of old Eeyore, turn the
page...QUICKLY...better still; rip it out of the book!
See you in Church,
Rev. Chuck
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