“In all situations, no matter how desperate they may appear or actually be, you always have the ultimate freedom to choose your attitude.”  Viktor Frankl, Auschwitz death camp survivor

Make a list of a half-dozen or so good (or even great) choices you have made recently.  Now make a list of a few not-so-good choices you have made.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.  (Deut. 30:19; NIV)

How did you like it when you walked into your classroom and the teacher announced a pop quiz?  Usually a little scary, right?  What if you had walked into your classroom and the teacher announced a pop quiz, but also pointed out that the answers were on the board.  Probably never happened to you did it?  Certainly never happened to me.  But that’s exactly what God did in the above verse.  He announced a multiple choice quiz and then quickly went on to reveal the best answer.  (Not the only answer…but clearly the best answer.)

The word “choose” is pretty well understood by all.  The dictionary says it is “to select from a number of possibilities, or to prefer, or decide.”  Pretty straightforward.  Yet at the same time, this little word is one of the most powerful in all of the English language.  As the verse above makes clear, the power to choose is a God-given power.  We all have it…but do we all use it?  If we do use it, do we use it wisely?

First of all, do some really not use their power of choice?  I’ve heard it said many times, “to not choose is to choose.”  So, if you choose to not choose when given a choice, one of the choices will invariably be chosen for you by default.  That’s the definition of a victim–living their life according to the circumstances that “happen” to them.  At the risk of sounding judgmental, what a terrible way to live!  Many probably live that way because they just don’t understand that all have been given the power to choose.  And most certainly don’t understand that they probably got into whatever situation they’re in due to a choice or lack of choice they made in the past.  Kind of convoluted, but life really seems to boil down to a series of choices that we are given.

Secondly, do we use this God-given power wisely?  Sometimes, we have dug a hole so deep with our prior choices that the only wise choice we have before us is to choose our attitude as Frankl says in the quote above.  I would like to propose that wisely choosing our attitude is the “stepladder” that will get us out of any hole that we may be in.  Let me list a few wise choices that we can all make any time we choose:
–We can choose to decide to give up thinking about all that is wrong and choose to think about what is right.
–We can choose to stop comparing ourselves to others and choose to be grateful for who we already are and what we already have.
–We can choose to stop beating ourselves up about all that we haven’t done (or have done for that matter).
–We can choose to refuse to be offended no matter what anyone says or does to us
–We can choose to look positively at adversity instead of choosing to fight it.  We can choose to look for the lessons in that adversity.
–We can choose to forgive since forgiveness is a decision and not a feeling.  We can choose to forgive without a residual grudge, resentment, or bitterness.
–We can choose to overcome evil with good.
–We can choose to be free from anger.
–We can choose to go on with this list indefinitely, or we can choose to assume that the point has been made.

Bottom line?  Follow the manufacturer’s handbook — “choose life.”  The answer is right there in front of you.

Prayer Power
Lord, we are eternally grateful that You have given us the power to choose.  Forgive us when we choose to ignore that power or when we choose to use it unwisely.  Grant us the grace to recognize that the first step back, is often to just change our attitude.

Link of the Day
Choose Well

Blessing to you as you make wise choices this weekend and everyday thereafter.