From the Inside Out

Along with spring-cleaning of the house, I thought perhaps a purging of the blog-post-ideas file would be worthwhile. Six years of collecting starters has produced thirty-five pages of possibilities.

Some ideas have languished in a notebook nearly the whole six years. It’s probably time to admit they’re never going to amount to anything, I decided.

Then you came to mind! Maybe you’ll see potential where I’ve given up hope. And with a deft question or suggestion you’ll send me off researching and keyboarding with your fresh insight.

Or, you’ll say, “I’d like to know more about that. Keep that one in the hopper!” And the life of that idea will thus be saved.

So what occurs to you about these topics, dear readers? Do you see any possibilities here for a worthwhile post or two?

1. From Anxiety to Joy. Psalm 94:19 says, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” What might those consolations be that can bring joy in the midst of anxiety? (That’s quite a feat!)

2.  God’s ways are an outgrowth of his character—even when tragedy strikes. How can hurt and pain be the outgrowth of God’s beautiful and perfect attributes?

3.  Delight and Desire. Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” How do we learn to delight in the Lord and desire what he desires?

4.  The Adventure of Grace. What insight might we gain from the definition of adventure? How is the life of grace is like an adventure, and why is that attitude helpful? How can we embrace the adventure more enthusiastically?

5.  The power of right attitudes over body, mind, and spirit. What have medical science and psychology discovered about the impact of attitudes? What does scripture have to say? How can we change our attitudes?

6.  “He who keeps one end in view makes all things serve”—Robert Browning.   That statement is true in the Christian life: if our main ambition is to fulfill God’s purpose, then all events will serve equally well.

7.  Goodness is not only good for those around us, it’s good for us.

8.  How do we accept with grace the circumstances that are unpleasant and outside our control?

9.  Turning Boredom into Contentment. Life can be full of mundane tasks that sap the joy right out of our spirits. What’s a person to do?!

10.  Game-Changers. Our viewpoints of life’s circumstances are perhaps more important than the circumstances themselves. Sometimes all it takes is a pithy statement to change our attitude. Possibilities include: “We obey God, not because we have to but because we get to” (A quote from one of the lay pastors at our church.) Or, how about this statement: “If the Lord does not change the place for the better, he will make us better in the place” (Charles Spurgeon). What other perspective-changers can we apply on a circumstantial rainy day?

11. Taking offense at less and less provocation seems to have pervaded our culture. What happened to resilience? Is it important? Does the Bible give us instruction for this attribute? How do we develop it?

12.  Rock Climbing—a metaphor for life. We need the handholds of God’s character when life becomes a difficult climb. We must cling to his attributes.

That’s enough for today. I’ll look forward to reading your creative suggestions in the comment section below!

(Photo credits:  http://www.thebluediamondgallery.com; http://www.heartlight.org; http://www.pixabay.com; http://www.nps.gov; http://www.flickr.com.)