Jeff and I recently return from a cruise with my family. We left from New Orleans, Louisiana and traveled down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and then on to Honduras and back again. Jeff and I had never been on a cruise before, so we really did not know what to expect. As we left New Orleans, my brother, Andrew, drew the water to my attention. He commented on how dirty the water was and showed me all the debris that had washed up on the land and had accumulated around the ships that were docked. As we travelled down the river and reached the Gulf of Mexico, I could not help but notice the color of the water changing. It seemed that the further we got from home, the clearer the water became. There were places where the water was so clear that it I could literally see the bottom of the ocean.

We had a very nice trip and all that I really thought of when we were away was being on the ship and what we were going to be doing on that particular day. As we made our return to New Orleans, we once again had to travel on the Mississippi River. We entered the river during the night. As I lie in bed, I thought about returning home and I began to get stressed. It was not that I did not want to go home, but I started thinking about all of the things I needed to do. I started thinking about school starting, what I needed to accomplish at home, and I even started thinking about the past.

I realized that I was not going to be able to sleep, so I got up and went out on one of the decks of the ship. As I was standing there, I was still feeling a little stressed and I walked toward the edge of the ship and looked down at the water. The water was once again muddy. Then I felt like God asked me a question. He said, “What was the water like when you were far away from home and did not spend time thinking about all the things you needed to do when you returned home?” I answered, “It was clear and blue.” Then God asked, “What is the water like now that you are getting closer to home and thinking about all of the things you need to do and remembering the past?” I answered, “It is muddy.” Then God said, “Well, don’t muddy the waters.” Then it hit me. I was muddying the waters. I was thinking about things that really didn’t matter anymore in reference to the past, and I was worrying about things that had not even happened yet and that God had control over anyway. So, in that moment, I decided to relax and go back to bed and sleep which I did.

Thinking about those muddy waters has made me realize that many times we do muddy our own waters. We fill our minds with the negative things in life. We focus on the bad, and we dwell on the bad events of the past. God wants us to live our lives in clear blue waters where we do not worry about anything. He wants us to not worry about the past, the present, or even the future. He wants us to realize that He has everything under control and that He will lead us in the right direction if only we will listen to Him. We can all leave the muddy waters of our lives behind us, and we can all sail through clear blue waters with God’s help. We can choose to focus on the positive instead of the negative, and we can choose to trust God and allow Him to guide our steps and illuminate our path. He wants to do that for all of us. It is not that the water will not be choppy sometimes, and it is not that the water may not become cloudy, but God can lead us over the choppy waters and lead us through the cloudy waters if we only trust him. God wants all of us to live the best life possible and God wants all of us to experience the calmness of the clear blue waters in our lives. He wants us to focus on the positive and forget the negative. He wants us to stop worrying and start trusting Him more and more.

We can all do this, but it will take practice. God will help us when we spend time talking to Him and listening for all the positive things He whispers into our ears everyday. A positive attitude and outlook on life will lead all of us to peace and PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~

P.S. I appreciate all of the comments that you leave. I cannot not reply directly to you through an email, but I always try to reply to your comment in the comment section of each post. Please feel free to come back to read my reply. Also if you would like to follow me on Facebook you can do so by searching for me by my name, Dan Weaver.

Negative outlook on life.

Positive outlook on life.