I'm beginning to realize that I have a severe allergy. I have known this for some time but I had never connected the dots until recently. The revelation came to me recently when I saw a button that said, "I'm Allergic to Negative People." BAM! I knew there had to be a condition that described the 'need to flee' feeling I got every time I was in the presence of negative whiny complaining folks.
Recently I was in a conversation at church with a very agitated person who kept saying, "I know we're supposed to be Christians and act in a Christlike way but..." BUT??? Seriously? But what? After her "...but..." she proceeded to berate, complain, whine and tear down a line of people in one fell swoop. Everything in me wanted to vacate the property and go to my happy place.
I heard Dr. Mark Rutland, President of ORU, make this statement at a conference last summer, "I have never really had a bad day since the day I gave my life to Jesus." I wanted to stand up and shout when he said it! Why? Because it's exactly how I feel about life! Here's the key for me, God has never allowed me to forget just how broken, lost, miserable and hopeless I was before I became a follower of Jesus.
That has produced an acute and profound sense of GRATITUDE that has not left me in 32 years of walking with Jesus. I have observed and experienced this truth; Truly grateful people are the most positive, happy, content, loving people on the planet. When you are truly grateful for every breath and can authentically comprehend your life without Christ and without hope, then life takes on a wonderful and vibrant quality. Every day is a bonus!
As for my allergic condition, I will try not to run the next time I'm in a negative person's orbit and I will just start declaring the goodness of God and change the atmosphere in the moment.
Great post, Jimmy. You need to write more!
Posted by: Kingdomtweets | March 27, 2012 at 08:08 PM