Thursday evening I went to Bottom Dollar off of Universal road in Penn Hills, Pa. Matt and I were cooking dinner that evening and I had a couple groceries I had to pick up. In case you want your mouth to water, we had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, and warm biscuits; it was delicious. However, as I was putting my groceries away, my keys slipped out of my hand and into the 5 foot deep grate that lie beneath my feet. It was like watching it in slow motion as they fell from my hands and into semi-watered hole.

My initial reaction was a loud, “OH NO!!!” The people around me quickly came over and asked what happened. As we scouted out the hole, we realized there was no easy way to lift up the grate; and I have no extra keys. Instead of getting upset or having a fit, I quickly thought of an easy solution. In my head I thought, “I have a bungee cord in my trunk. I can lower it down and fish it out.”

After realizing the bungee cord wasn’t long enough, I grabbed another hook to lower it down. After many failed attempts and five minutes later, I was able to swing the hook around the key loop and slowly bring it up. The keys were safely in my hands and they weren’t falling out. I swiftly ran to the driver seat to turn on my jeep and make sure the water hadn’t damaged the key. Sure enough, my car started without any problems.

This is an awesome situation for me. You may be asking yourself, “Why?” I have a tendency, or had, and sometimes still do, to get easily upset and angered. The Lord has done a huge work in me over these last few years with helping manage my anger. For those who don’t know, this was so bad my nickname on my basketball team in High School was Rage. However, I remembered the words of a tweet I saw from Frank Viola the day before. He quoted Winston Churchill who said:

“A pessimist sees a difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Since then, I have done my best to look at situations differently, knowing the Lord has a plan for every situation and it is my job to depend on His knowledge and guidance to deal with them. Likewise, is another quote from C.S. Lewis who said:

“Of all the awkward people in your house or job there is only one whom you can improve very much.”

People are tough, and situations almost never pan out the way we want or expect, but it’s our perspective that gives us a positive or negative outlook on those circumstances. Furthermore, both Jesus and Paul say, “Don’t be anxious about anything” (Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6). Our worries don’t always disappear immediately, but it comes with the grace of the Lord who is willing to help us through our struggles.

At Renew, we are in a series called Forward Motion. This series is designed to enhance our walk with the Lord taking each day, one step at a time. This past week we focused on the Holy Spirit and His guidance in our every day lives (John 16). Ultimately, we cannot do anything for the Lord on our own. We please the Lord when we turn to him. I’m reminded of a prayer I, and most of us, prayed when I was young: “Lord, if you just do this one thing for me, I’ll never ask for anything else.” That is the complete opposite of what the Lord wants for us. Another tweet from Frank Viola was a retweet of Keith Giles who said:

“Christians are people who are fully aware of their constant need for Jesus.”

For every situation we face, good or bad, our support and guidance must come from the Holy Spirit. Each new day we face, and every step we take must revolve around the Spirit’s leading. Why? Because that’s how the prophets, apostles, and even Jesus Himself did. It is our model for Christian living.

I want to conclude with my favorite chapter on the life of a Christ-follower. It is a must read for anyone considering the life of following Christ. While the whole chapter is filled with rich ideas on the Christian lifestyle, three verses specifically come to mind:

“12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony” Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT, compliments of YouVersion).