Day 303 - The One Percent

"All of us were focusing our attention on the one percent rather than the 99."

Most of what we worry about and fight over is small compared to the big picture. We focus on one percent of the whole picture. That one percent is where our frustrations and fears get the best of us and bring our the worst in us. 

Today I had the opportunity to have a bad day. Lots of meetings, lots of needs, lots of stress. Frame all that with a problem with the sewer lines at my house and that makes for one crappy day in every sense of the word. I didn't let it get to me though. In the midst of all the stuff going on I took time to pray, exercise,  enjoy my children, take in the beauty of a sunset and clouds changing colors over the mountains, talk to a friend, cuddle my wife while watching a show together and get in to the Word of God. When you look at the ninety nine percent versus the one percent it just makes sense to not sweat the small stuff. 

Working with people it is easy to find little things that bug us. Personality quirks or inefficiencies are like sand in your bathing suit. You end up irritated to no end by such little things. It just takes a dip in the ocean or a quick rinse to get rid of the chafing. Similarly all we have to do is wade into God's love and mercy and remember how much He has forgiven us in Christ and it won't be long before we are ready to forgive and love others. 

If we focus on the ninety nine percent we would overlook offenses, promote love and unity and get a lot more done. Just like the oyster that covers the little grain of sand over and over so that it no longer irritates we will find our days to be beautiful pearls to be treasured. 

How can we keep our focus on the ninety nine percent? How do we effectively deal with the one percent? 

Day 20 - Arguments

Reading back through my journal entry from last year on this day I remember it was a great day. We went with some friends on a boat in the ocean and spotted two whales, a pod of dolphins and passed a bunch of sleeping seals on a buoy.

What struck me from this day was not the good that we had but a little line that said my wife and I had a disagreement that morning about our future plans. I find that most couples fight about three things; finances, the future, and intimacy (which often means two different things to men and women). This was our day to fight about the future.

As big as any argument can get all it takes to make it small is to look at God. He is bigger than any problem and bigger than any need. After being on the ocean that day the proof of what I just wrote is confirmed by the last sentence of my journal entry:

"Earlier today we had some intense fellowship over the future and what we both had in our hearts. After being on the water and seeing the beauty of God's creation it made it seem so insignificant."

Have you ever had a problem that seemed huge but turned out to be small? How does your view of God effect your view of life?