Two Christians: one decides to do armed robbery and the other tries to talk him out of it while being held up at gunpoint. What’s the difference between the two?
Click here to see the video of the armed robbery.

How do we know we’re really hearing from the Lord?

I was going to take my kids to the circus, but I changed my mind. I know kids love the circus, but I started thinking. I was thinking about the smell. You know, the elephants, the stuffy tent, the crowded seats—smelly.

I thought about the cotton candy—tastes good, but so sticky! And it gets on everything—your hands, your clothes, in your hair. And afterward, you’ll spend weeks trying to get the last traces of it out of your car. No, for me, the circus is just not worth the trouble.

But for my kids? Now that’s a different story. For them, the circus is wonderful. They’re not thinking about the smell or the sticky mess. Their focus is on the fun and the laughs and the wonder of it all. So who’s right? Well, to be really honest, I think they are.

You see, if we only focus on the negatives, we’ll never enjoy anything. And that goes for most everything.

Think about your car. Remember when you first got it? You loved everything about it. Couldn’t wait to go for a drive. Kept it sparkling clean inside and out. But after a few years, a couple of nicks and scratches—there’s nothing to get excited about anymore.

How about your job? When you started, the sky was the limit! You couldn’t wait to get there! But now…you could think of a hundred reasons to show up late, or even to skip a day. Same probably goes for church: now that the newness has worn off, how excited are you to get there every time?

The point is this: when we only focus on the problems, we lose sight of God’s plan.

That’s what happened to Abraham. He had barely gotten to the Promised Land when news of a famine caused him to pack up and head for Egypt. He didn’t want to deal with the problems that came with the promise.

But listen, even God’s best for us in this very real, fallen world is going to come with some challenges. When we focus on the bad stuff—the smelly, sticky stuff—we miss the joy of trusting God and loving the life He intends for us. You think about that—I’m going to the circus…