Zig Ziglar was a noted thinker, author, motivational speaker and an all-round positive guy. He tells of an event to which he was asked to address realtors in Flint Michigan. As he entered the room he greeted a man who proved to be a doldrum real estate salesman. Ziglar made the mistake of asking him about his business. It was at a time General Motors was on strike and the real estate agent was depressed saying that “because of the strike people were holding onto every thin dime.” He was so negative that the only way he could brighten the room was by leaving.
Someone distracted the man and Ziglar spoke to another person, this time a lady. When he asked how everything was going she said “Well you know Mr. Ziglar, General Motors is on strike.” Ziglar thought, “here we go again.” But then the lady smiled and gave him a long list why the strike was good for her business. She ended by asking him, “Do you know anyone in Washington? When he asked her why she wanted to know she responded, “If I could keep this strike going for another six weeks, I could take the rest of the year off!”
| Read Philippians 4:8 Quote: “You are what you are because of what goes into your mind.” Zig Ziglar |
What is interesting is one person is going broke because of the strike but another person, in the same business, was doing well because of the strike. The difference? Outlook and attitude. “Stinking thinking,” as Ziglar calls it, has no place in our business or life.
I would go a step further. “Stinking thinking” has no place in the Christian life either. For as a Man . . . “as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
It is important that as we go through the toughest of times with the current pandemic that we not get discouraged in our thinking. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have suffered great loss at this time in business, in position, in life and in terms of family and loved ones. It is also a time of great opportunity for the Christian. Opportunity to serve, to help, to be the light Christ asked us to be. To understand that every crisis brings with it an opportunity to excel and exceed the ordinary and transcend the mundane. To put faith to work and believe that the “God for whom nothing is impossible” will help us achieve all we and He needs in our life, until He comes to get us or we go home to meet Him.
“To be an overachiever you have to be an over-believer.”– Dabo Swinney
