Stop Seeing the Glass as Half-Empty

Daily Devotional

Matthew 13: 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

If someone gave you a glass that has juice half the way up, would you see it as half-empty or half-full? Perspective is everything.

The Pharisees had a tendency to see everything that Jesus did as half empty. For healing on the Sabbath day they accused him of breaking the law. He cast out devils; they said he did it by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. In Matthew 9:10-11, he sat with publicans and sinners at Matthew’s house, they saw it as him mingling with sinners. They could not see it as an opportunity to grow the number of believers. They religiously took a negative perspective on whatever He did. Why were the Pharisees like this with Jesus? At the heart of it was a failure to see Jesus through the eyes of faith. Therefore, they could not see him as the son of God so everything he did became an issue.

Whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full is a product of whether you are seeing through the lens of doubt and fear or faith. The Pharisees saw Jesus through the eyes of doubt and fear: not only did they doubt him; they feared that His ministry would make them less relevant. If they saw him by faith for who he really was, then their attacks on his character would have been non-existent.

If you typically see the glass as half-empty, it is important that you start seeing through the lens of faith as seeing things otherwise cause them to diminish and die. Consider Matthew 13:58 where the scripture tells us that because of unbelief Jesus could not do many mighty works in his hometown. Imagine that, the number of miracles that great miracle worker did diminished because the people saw him through the lens of doubt and fear.

Life Application: Invest time daily becoming more knowledgeable about the word of God as faith rises with hearing of the word of God. As faith rises, your ability to see through the lens of faith will rise. 

Prayer: Lord, change my perspective on situations that I see through fear and doubt. Help me to rise above pessimism which causes me to see things in a negative way. In Jesus name, amen.