Glass Half ... ?

Glass Half ...

Full? Empty? Which kind of person are you?

I always say I’m a glass half full person, but I see the glass beside me is nearly completely empty. It is so easy for me to drink the glass of water and fail to refill it until my thirst can no longer be ignored.

Jesus told the woman at the well that if she’d known who she was speaking with, she’d have asked him for water and he’d have given her a drink that would ‘spring up to eternal life’, and she would never have to visit the well again. 

That sounded too good to be true to her and yet ... she was impressed enough to rush back to town and gather the neighbours to hear this Jew sitting by the well. 

It’s easy for me to refill my glass. Stand up, walk a dozen steps to a tap and there it is, cold and refreshing and good Scottish water. Many places in the world are not blessed with an abundance of clean fresh water. Many people, mainly women, walk for miles, for hours, daily, through dangerous conditions, in order to collect enough water for the day. 

Jesus was talking about the refreshment our spirits need. We are all under pressure, too busy, stressed out, and fail to take time to sit with God at the well. The well might be the Bible. It might be a time of meditating on a Scriptural verse, or on the person of Jesus. It might be a time of prayer and contemplation. It might be a CD played softly or loudly, offering hope and refreshment for the spirit.

I did fill up my spiritual glass this morning, so it’s time to go fill up my physical glass. 

Peter advised his listeners to repent and turn to God, so that their sins could be wiped out and that ‘times of refreshing may come from the Lord.’ May you know such a time of refreshing today.

Glass Half Full

Life’s events can sometimes seem to overtake us, with worries multiplying like rabbits and responsibilities weighing us down. 

Perspective, my dad used to advise. Keep it all in perspective.

Two people can look at the same situation and one sees a half-empty glass while the other sees a half-full glass. Who are you?

The Bible gives good counsel on how to look at life. ‘Don’t worry about anything,’ Paul wrote. ‘Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.’

Thank him for all he has done. What a liberating action that is, because as you mentally revise all he has done, your faith for the future rises and the half-empty glass begins to look half full. 

And what happens when you thank him for all he has done?

‘Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.’ 

Those verses from chapter 4 of Philippians are among my Bible favourites. They are so encouraging, and as you begin to discipline yourself to practice the advice, you find your mood and outlook lifting and the whole perspective shifts. 

You can move from feeling like a victim of life’s circumstances to feeling like a victor, not on your own but with Jesus standing in there with you. 

After you’ve thanked God for everything you can think of (takes a long time if you’re serious about this, and is pretty humbling to recognise so much blessing in your life), Paul goes on to advise what your mind should focus on, and it isn’t your past, or your worries, or the future. It’s on good things, true, honourable, right and pure and lovely – thinking about excellent things raises your perspective another degree or ten.

My glass is more than half full. How about yours?