Goodness in Everything

During my devotional earlier this evening, a verse struck out at me:

"May we see the Lord's goodness/ in the land of the living. Amen."

-Psalms 27:13

I immediately thought of all the times I've uttered in frustration, "UGH! I hate people!" Usually I say this phrase after someone (usually at work) has annoyed me or another driver has done something idiotic. I came to the sobering conclusion that I've said, "I hate people!" more than I've said, "I love people!"

Why is it so easy to hate? Or to jump to the worst case scenario? Or to find fault in others? Why do we so often pay attention to the crappy aspects of life and ignore the goodness all around us? Because there is goodness; otherwise, the prayer in the Psalm above would not have asked God to let us see it.

These little lines of prayer challenged me. They challenged me to check myself in how I treat others. They challenged me to be more forgiving. Most of all, they challenged me to see the goodness in life (and in people!) instead of always fixating on the negative.