Conscious of God or Consumed with Your Gunk?

A friend of mine was recently recounting the struggles he's been having, primarily at work.  He has one of those jobs where he works 12 hour shifts and because of some miss-management by those in authority he and his co-workers have been working 70+ hours a week for nearly a year now.  And if  that weren't bad enough his shifts vary each month from nights to days!  If I were him I think I'd be getting pretty sick of that schedule.

I'll bet you could come up with at least one crummy thing that's been going on in your life in the next 30 seconds... did you think of something?  There's at least a chance that you had your crummy situation thought of even while you were reading that first paragraph!  For some reason we're conditioned to be consumed by our gunk.  The negative situations and circumstances we flow in and out of on a consistent basis.  We think about them.  Worry about them.  Wonder how we're gonna survive them and often say things like, "If one more thing happens I'm going to lose it!"

My friend could have focused on his crummy hours, the loss of time with his family, the irritation of his co-workers and anger toward those in authority.  And he could have justified his feelings.  But that's not where he chose to focus his energy.  Instead he was able to look at all that God had provided for he and his family over the last year.  My friend loves Jesus and was able to give more to God because he had more to give.  He loves the outdoors and was able to purchase a camper (which he's wanted for a long time) and a new truck and even make some much needed improvements around the house.

It's easy to get consumed with our gunk.  It seems to be prevalent.  It's annoying.  Sometimes there is a lot of it.  But when we're consumed with our gunk we can't be conscious of what God is doing.  Every time I've gone through a difficult time in my life I have found that God is also working overtime.

When we focus on our gunk we see more of it.  It's a universal principle in every area of our lives:

• Think about the things you don't like about your spouse and you'll start seeing more of them... and you'll get more upset because "you deserve better."
• Make a list of what you don't like about your job and there will always be one more thing to add.
• Focus on the "problem areas" of your body and soon those will be all you see. 
• Constantly grip about your aches and pains and they will miraculously get worse.
• A new car will be close behind when you start cataloging all the problems with the one you have now (like, it doesn't have cooled seats).  

Focus on your gunk and there will be more of it to occupy yourself with.  But you'll miss all that God is doing.  But here's the beauty of this principle, it works the other way too!   When you're conscious of what God is doing and around you you'll start to see MORE of it!  

• Make a list of what you like about your church and there will be more to like!  
• Consider all the best qualities of your spouse and your attitude toward them will begin to shift.
• Look at what your crummy job provides for you and your family and you'll start to feel better about going to work everyday.

You can either be conscious of God or consumed with your gunk - you can't be both.  It takes effort but it's worth it!  

We'd love to hear how you stay conscious of God in the midst of your gunk - please share!