This past month has been a wild ride. It’s been exciting and also emotional as life is changing with Kate and Gavin heading off to college in the fall.  Yet life is full of ups and downs.  If we simply read the news each day and we see this.  So how can we handle the changes and ups and downs in life without feeling like we are on an emotional roller coaster?  

Author Tim Elmore gives powerful insight into this by discussing the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer.

 As you know, a thermostat is the device on the wall in our homes that we set the temperature on. The temperature is set and no matter what the outside temperature is, it doesn’t impact or change the temperature on the thermostat.

This is unlike a thermometer which doesn’t have an inner temperature established. Instead, the temperature wavers based on the environment it is in.  Do we want our inner world’s “temperature” to be determined by our outer circumstances - or - do we want to establish our internal temperature so that that we live with greater peace even when our circumstances waver?  I am guessing you, like me, seek to live like that latter.  But how?  By setting our inner temperature by praying and meditating on God’s Word throughout the day.  When we do this, it doesn’t mean we won’t experience the ups and downs of life, but our inner world will be more steady like the thermostat. I know from experience, the more rooted I am in God, the more calm I am within. The less rooted in God I am, the more I am like a thermometer. 

I share this with you today in case what is happening in your world, or the world, has your inner temperature rising and falling, like I do at times. I invite you to join me to...  

pause. breathe. pray.  

May we listen to this wisdom from Tim Elmore and consider not being a thermometer, but instead be a thermostat, setting our inner temperature in alignment with God, above all else. And by doing this, with God’s Word as the meditation of our hearts and minds, we can have a renewed perspective and great peace within, no matter our external circumstances.

With love and hope,
Shawn