“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)
There I sat in the surgical waiting room at 6:00 a.m. I was on stand-by as Reid was receiving a new hip. It didn’t take long when a woman came in with her brother. They too were settling in for the long wait you have when a loved one is in surgery. The woman and I started a conversation. She had come with her brother to sit with him while his wife had a knee replacement. This peaked my attention because I too am scheduled for a knee replacement in June. When I shared this with my waiting room companion, she told me that she had both (not just one), but both of her knees replaced on July 5th of last year, and that she returned to work on September 21st. I started to do the math. Seemed like a rather quick turnaround for a double knee replacement. So, I asked her what her secret was. She shared, “I did everything the doctor told me to do, especially all the physical therapy.” I was impressed. But there was something else about her that impressed me. It was her attitude toward the whole process. She was positive, upbeat, determined, and disciplined.
Attitude! We all have one. Our attitude determines the kind of day we have. We tend to sort our days into the categories of good and bad, based on what circumstances each day presents. When we do that, our attitude depends on whether or not life goes the way we want it to. But God’s word has some insight for us that can change the way we view life. Proverbs 15:15 says, “All the days of the downcast are bad, but a cheerful heart has an everlasting banquet.” God’s word makes a distinction between people who are downcast, and those who have a cheerful heart.
Statistics tell us that on average we humans are angry 24 percent of the time. We are sad 27 percent of the time. We spend 40 percent of our time eaten up with worry and stress. What this means is that we spend between one fourth to one half of our life – miserable. We can see it everywhere. On the faces of people. In the voices of people. In the attitudes of people. The way we treat one another. The way we don’t treat one another. What we see when we look in the mirror. We’re just a miserable mob of humanity.
God has something much better for us. He has the grace we need to overcome our bad attitudes with a happy heart. A heart that is grateful for each day, no matter what it brings. And that attitude begins with the gratitude for being God’s child. Maybe it’s time for some of us to allow Proverbs 15:15 to do some surgery in our heart.
Darlene
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