Change Your Focus. Look at Roses. Not Thorns.

Change is necessary and inevitable. Focus is a choice. When life demands you to change or circumstances present themselves in the form of change, you and I must choose to change also, adapt to the new changes, or resist change and remain neutral. However, the latter stance is more destructive than productive. Even when change is unwelcomed or unpleasant, choosing to focus on the positive outcomes of the change can make all the difference.

Change Your Focus. Look at Roses, Not at Thorns.

A powerful quotation that underscores this principle is from the book, That I May Know Him, p. 278:

“We are not to look at the thorns and thistles in our experience. We are to go into the garden of God’s Word and pluck the lilies and roses and the fragrant pinks of His promises.” (E.G. White)

Here are 7 Ways to Change Your Focus So You Can Look at Roses, Not at Thorns:

1. Acknowledge the change. It is important to see and know the change exist instead of ignoring the obvious. You may not accept a doctor’s diagnosis but if the facts shows you have a disease, ignoring it is the last thing you want to do. You cannot confront what you fail to acknowledge. (Tweet this)

2. Analyze the Change. Exactly what changes are necessary? What are the pros and cons of this change? What is the price to pay for changing? What is the Price to pay for NOT changing?

Act on the Change. Make decision to do something about the change. After knowing what the change will require, then there must be action. Make a decision to change, adapt, or reject the change but don’t ever try to remain neutral.

3. Pray About The Change. Sometimes changes are difficult to adjust to but there is power in prayer. If you need wisdom, simply ask God and He promises to give it to you (James 1:5-8). Pray until God gives you a sense of peace and purpose about what action is best to take in light of the changes at hand. Check out my book, Prayers That Move Heaven, if you need help getting answers to your prayers, 100% of the time.

4. Get Help to Change. Don’t go at it alone. Enlist the support of family, friends, co-workers, or a professional to help you implement whatever changes are needed in your life. This may be the swiftest way to implement change. People are more willing to help than we give them credit for. The wise king Solomon said, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.” (See Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

5. Write 7 Blessings That Can Happen With This New Change. This pushes you to see the lilies, roses, and fragrant pinks in every situation. Sometimes that is all that is needed to get a new perspective in every situation. Precious gems are not always obvious but when you pause to look closes, there they are, all along, just waiting to be discovered.

6. Leave the Thorns and Thistles Alone. Why be obsessed with the ugly when the beautiful is that much better? It never ceases to amaze just how programmed we are to automatically notice the negatives in life. Sometimes, 99% of a situation may be good yet we expend all our energies over that 1% that may not be good. It’s time to switch channels. Change your focus. Look at the roses. Not the thorns.

Action Steps:

1. Make a list of the current thorns in your life.

2. Make a list of the roses in your life.

3. Which list is longer? What will you do with this revelation?

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