These days we have attempted to replace the power of God with the power of positive thinking. The gospel of Oprah overshadows the teachings of Jesus. The problem is: the power of positive thinking is still self-effort. Two sports teams may have positive attitudes, but one of them is going to lose. Two countries may have noble reasons for going to war, but both of them cannot win. If you and a farmer in the same town both have positive hopes, but you wish for a sunny day and he wishes for rain on his crops, who wins?
Then I started thinking about poverty stricken 3rd world countries. They have little reason to think positive. But if they did, would we come running to their rescue- or are we too busy thinking positively about how we can become successful that we ignore bringing hope to others?
Positive thinking, again, falls short if you are being abused. You cannot control things with your mental prowess. When positive thinking becomes an attempt to engineer life's results so you always come out ahead, it borders on spiritual manipulation of heaven's blessings for your own purposes.
John the Baptist said "He must increase and I must decrease" (referring to Jesus). John the Baptist was in prison and Jesus never visited him. He was eventually beheaded. We must come to the point where we yield our will to His purposes. Is your attitude positive so that you can manage your own life better? Is it a source of pride or humility?
When does positive thinking ever lead to dying to self? Positive thinking which provides fuel to build yourself up so that you have more energy to build your kingdom instead of God's is called humanism. Denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus is the authentic way to surrender to God's will.
