A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. Proverbs 17:10

I used to read  a book to my children called, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” One day last week I thought I was living it.

Usually the things that I consider interruptions to my schedule don’t bother me too much. For some reason on this particular day I had a little checklist in my head (and written in list form on my desk) and I wanted to accomplish everything on that list, that day. I started early so I could get it all done.

Enter interruptions one and two back to back. I was not happy.

Attitude Adjustment

The worst part of the day was that I knew it was my own attitude that was the real problem. (We all know attitudes start in the heart, right?) I was praying and rebuking myself for the selfish attitudes and pointless grumbling over circumstances I could not change.

The next day I was telling my husband how I had been talking to God about it all day. His immediate response to me was, “You mean He was talking to you about it.”

There it was, the crux of my whole problem that day.  I was so wrapped up in what I wanted to accomplish that I lost sight of what God was trying to accomplish in me.

Many times I have felt that conviction about my selfish or bad attitude and I have heard it as from the Lord. On those days my attitude changes pretty quickly. On this day, I knew I was convicted but my  thinking was more about how to get around the interruptions so I could get to what I thought I “needed” to do.

The Great Communicator

God is a great Communicator. He was talking to me about my attitude. He gave me understanding that my level of frustration was over the top and my attitude needed an adjustment. I could have chosen to adjust it. I chose to wallow in my little pity party all day.

God may have been trying to open my eyes to what He was doing – or what He had for me to do. All I could hear were my own complaints.

I see and hear the complaints of others every day. The heat. The cold. The kids. The husband. The bills. The co-workers. The friends.

As we communicate our dissatisfaction, is God communicating His? How do you and I respond to the Words of God as He tries to redirect our thinking? What response do we have to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to change our minds about what is happening?

Last week, I missed what He was saying to me because I was so busy with what I wanted to say to Him.

I have learned that God does not require a very bad day to produce a very bad attitude. What is He communicating to you in your circumstances today?