27 Aug 90% (Because Life is 10% What Happens to You and 90% How You Respond to It)

A while back, Anne and I were going to pick up our son, Johnathan. He was at his grandmother’s house and a serious storm was brewing. Therefore Anne and I decided to pick him up and take him home. As we were rapidly driving to his grandma’s house, the storm clouds began to look more and more ominous. It was then that Anne began to implore me to stay at John’s grandma’s house once we arrived!

Now you know how guys are! I told Anne, “No problem, we can make it back in time to our house before the storm hits” (by now, most of you already know how this story is going to end). Well we were about half way home and we got caught in the worst of the storm. Blinding rain, sideways winds, falling tree limbs and quarter size hail describe this storm very well.

After much praying and swerving, we finally arrived home just as the storm stopped. Now you would have thought my wife would have had a terrible attitude with lots of “I told you so!” ready to pepper me with. Instead my awesome wife had the best attitude and simply walked in the house with joy in her heart and in her attitude! Boy, did I marry up! When it comes to marrying Anne…I truly did out-kick my coverage! Anne knows life is about 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it!

Last month we discussed, “13 Aspects of Attitude”

1. Attitude is your “advance man”

2. People meet your attitude before they meet you!

3. Attitude roots are inward, but its fruits are outward.

4. Our attitude is either our best friend or our worst enemy.

5. Our attitude is more honest than our words.

6. Attitude draws people to us.

7. Attitude repels people from us.

8. It only takes a moment to make an attitude adjustment.

9. The attitude you presently have is the one you’ve presently chosen.

10. Attitude will take you farther than your IQ.

11. Don’t be rude in your ‘tude’…be renewed in your ‘tude’!

12. Attitude will determine your altitude.

13. We must take personal responsibility for our own attitude.

This month let’s continue our discussion. Please allow me to share with you 6 Attitude Axioms:

1) Our attitude determines our approach to life (Prov. 23:7).

I remember the first year after we planted Joy Church. We had two families who came to our church together. After being at church for about a month they scheduled a meeting with us. Very shortly into the meeting they very proudly verbalized to me, “We have been to eight different churches and we have been kicked out of better churches than yours!” Wow!

While I know there are a lot of bad churches out there, at some point, it’s not the eight different churches…it’s you! When you have limburger cheese on your mustache, all of life stinks! When Bob and Mary, Bob and Larry, and Bob and Barry have problems…the problem is not with Mary, Larry or Barry! The problem is Bob!

Remember this…you don’t see life as it is, you see life as you are! From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, the devil tried to get mankind to focus on the one thing they couldn’t have. There were probably thousands of trees in this paradise, yet the devil wanted Adam and Eve to focus on the one tree they couldn’t have. The devil still does this today.

You have a great marriage but he wants you to focus on the few things wrong with your spouse. You have a good job but he wants you to focus on the few things wrong with your boss. You have a great church yet he wants you to focus on the few things wrong with your pastor.

Remember…our attitude determines our approach to life. Therefore, we must focus on how far we have come, not how far we need to go. We must focus on what we have, not what we don’t have!

Next week, we’ll continue our series!