What’s your focus these days? Are you the half empty glass kind of person? Or perhaps you’re the eternal optimist? I tend to be a bit of a realist, and admittedly slide into pessimism from time to time. But there are some who always seem to see the sunshine even in the midst of a cloudy and rainy day. And if I’m being totally honest, sometimes that simply drives me nuts! I’m not sure I know how to find the sunrise in the dark of night. I’m not always able to see the rainbow that hasn’t quite shown up because the storm’s too rough. 

But what happens if we change the direction we look? Pessimism is often due to a problem with our vision. No – we don’t bad eyesight but we have misaligned vision. When we look at the problem the problem gets bigger and bigger. Think of the famous bible story about a young boy named David who fought and won against a giant we know as Goliath.

The crowds were looking at the giant. And the longer they stared at his larger than life appearance, the bigger he became. The longer they looked at the size of his biceps, the stronger he seemed. The more they dwelt on the numbers of men and women he’d killed with his bare hands, the more terrifying he was. But what happens when we stop looking at Goliath and shift our focus?

David knew the difference between the giant and the one who would allow him to slay this giant. He took his eyes off this massive giant of a man and kept them focused on the only consistent and constant part of his life. He looked at the times and the ways God had gotten him through challenges in the past and that became his focus. You see it’s like counting our blessings.

When we take inventory of the blessings we have in life, we’re more inclined to see many more blessings than we originally knew existed. When we focus on the distance from which we’ve been saved, we’re better positioned to see the great in every day.

Today is rainy and dreary. It’s actually pretty gloomy outside. But instead of looking at the mess of road spray when you drive, choose to see you no longer need to water the grass. Or perhaps you can see it the way a man I respect says it – ‘it’s not just rain, it’s liquid sunshine.” How cool a simple shift in perspective can make to our view on life! Today, choose joy. Choose to see the blessings and count them. I guarantee you’ll be surprised at what you find.