Healthy Retrospection

 

Introspection is a word heard more often than retrospection. The slang term used to be “naval gazing,” because introspection can become very self-absorbing without producing many answers.

Retro has to do with things that have already happened. Retrospection can be a good thing unless it simply becomes nostalgia, or a desire to live in the past.

Healthy retrospection is grounded in the present, with the past giving hope for the future.

I often enjoy retrospection with a purpose. Psalm 100:4 directs us to enter God’s Presence with thanksgiving, then move closer in with praise.

Engaging in retrospection expands my thankfulness. I learned to depend on God’s word (Lamentations 3:22-26) during a couple of stressful times in my life: (1) While fighting Stage 3 Breast Cancer in 2007, and (2) while being a caregiver, twice, after retirement in 2009. These events come easily to mind.

But I’m happy to say God is still keeping His word morning-by-morning and day-after-day. Those phrases remind me of a favorite hymn: *Great Is Thy Faithfulness. The **refrain is this:

 Great is Thy faithfulness; Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

 Although this hymn was published in 1923, it was basically unknown until popularized by George Beverly Shea and the choirs at Billy Graham Crusades. The words were a poem written by Thomas O. Chisholm, set to music by Wm. M. Runyan.

Quiet yourself for a few moments and look back on your life. Do you need some "thankful ideas?" Try these:

Lessons Learned

Problems Solved

Relationships Healed

Physical or Emotional Needs Met

Spiritual Growth

Prayers Answered

A positive attitude is a healthy mindset. I'm thankful we don’t have to wait for one yearly official “Thanksgiving Day.”

Look forward to sunrise - - - it's a new day - - - filled with God’s new mercies. Engage in some retrospection, give thanks, then move forward in faith for that day.

*Great Is Thy Faithfulness; Then Sings My Soul, Robt. J. Morgan, 2003; Life Outreach Edition, p. 284-285.

**Refrain; Melodies of Praise; Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, MO; 1957, p. 216.

Relevant Advice

How many times do you have to hear the same advice before you take it seriously? One of my favorite Psalms is number thirty-seven. I have read it many times, in different translations.

It’s not a long Psalm, only forty verses, but the word “fret” catches my immediate attention. It occurs as part of a three-word phrase three times in the first eight verses.

When you fret, you allow yourself to worry or become upset over something. Anxious thoughts fill your mind, gnawing away, causing you to be disturbed or even angry.

If anyone had a reason to fret, I’d say it was David. He started out as a shepherd boy, was anointed to be king, but then had to wait for God’s timing. While waiting, the king in power made his life miserable. David and his supporting army were constantly fleeing for their lives, yet his faith in God shines clearly in the advice of this Psalm.

Read for yourself David’s words about fretting:

PSALM 37 (NKJV)

VERSE 1

Do not fret because of evildoers,

nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

VERSE 7

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

VERSE 8

Do not fret - - - it only causes harm.

Read the full chapter and you’ll see that David was convinced that trusting the Lord brings rewards now and for eternity. He also believed though the wicked presently flourish, they’ll find eternity to be just the opposite.

Do not fret is relevant advice. It’s easy in our day to stay disturbed over the economy . . . higher prices on food and gas, rents out of reach, and a medical system on overload. Yet David encourages us to choose our thoughts wisely, giving God a premium spot.

In place of “do not,” David advises “do this:” Trust in the Lord, do good, feed on His faithfulness, commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, rest in Him, wait patiently for Him, depart from evil, do good, and keep His way.  

Do not fret, but do live freely. You can read Psalm 37 and start following God’s Word today. If you don’t have a Bible, your cell phone can be a good source. My favorite app happens to be the YouVersion.

  

Seeds Anonymous

I’m not a gardener, so I have no advice in that area. I am a seed, however, just like you. Which of us has never felt like a dot-sized seed in the huge field of humanity?

One tiny seed journaled its thoughts:

                Page 1:  I am only a small seed and I feel like a tiny dot in this world. I know my feelings are based on my outward appearance. My importance lies on the inside, unseen but powerful. One day I will be planted, though I don’t know when or where. I do know I will grow at my God-given rate and my life will make a difference.

               Page 2:  Here I am---just a dot in this huge field, but I’ll remain in place, growing and producing what is within me. Eventually this field will be harvested and the grain distributed. My life will continue in a new way, but no one will know which life-supporting grain came from me.

      

 Page 3:  Harvest is over. This field has been plowed and my roots are resting in the sun. I lived a full life, did what I could, and even now I’m enriching this field for the seeds that will follow me. I’m still unknown, but fame was not my goal. I simply wanted the personal satisfaction of a life well-lived.

Day after day our world is blessed by unknown people. Like the little seed, they choose to remain faithful to their jobs, their families, their employers and themselves, living out their religious and moral principles.

Good deeds are important and will be rewarded. According to Matthew 6:1-4, Some people make it a point to let people know what they are doing. Earthly praise is their reward.

If we try to do good works without being noticed, our Father in Heaven judges the motives of our hearts and His will be a heavenly reward.

Albert Schweitzer, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1952, said, “The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

You are important. Together, as members of “Seeds Anonymous,” these shared traits can make a difference:

Kind hearts our gardens,

Kind thoughts our roots,

Kind words our flowers,

Kind deeds our fruits.

(Author Anonymous)