Your Attitude determines your Altitude

I've heard a couple of Leadership Gurus say something to the effect that "Your attitude determines your altitude." Basically your attitude helps determine the amount of success you achieve in life.  I don't think that speaks about short bursts of a positive attitude but a consistent positive outlook.

Caleb's attitude set him apart from the rest of the group and he caught God's attention. (Numbers 14:24-25). Even though initially Caleb's life was threatened because of his positive attitude, it was his attitude that preserved him over the long haul. The negative outlook eventually became the downfall of the people of Israel over the long haul. Caleb and the Israelites both received what they perceived and believed.

Caleb focused on God's promise to be brought into the Promise Land and eventually achieved that. The people of Israel focused on the problem and said they would rather have "died in Egypt or even in the wilderness" than face the challenge of entering the promise land. They eventually achieved that as well. God set them to wander the next 40 years in the wilderness until all those over the age of 20 dropped dead in the wilderness (Numbers 14:27-29).

Here is the crazy part to think about....

Caleb and Joshua had to wander with these people for the next 40 years. They would have to wait to receive their promise. This would be a justifiable moment to become bitter and agitated, not just at people but at God. Why should they have to wait and suffer for the disobedience and lack of faith of the others? I don't know why. But they did. They could have griped and complained about it. They could have went off on their own into the promise land and try to get what was theirs, but they stayed with the people and wandered...and their attitude didn't change.

When I go shopping with my family, and I'm ready to go to home (my promise land), and we have to "wander" through a few more stores first; I can get very agitated. And then when we finally get to go home, I go home ill because it took too long to get there.  This is just a one day event. Caleb did this for 40 years before he finally got to enter his Promise Land.

This is Caleb's response:....(I love this!!!)

"Now as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as He promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise - even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on the journey (as a scout), and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said." ~ Joshua 14:10-12

I wish I could respond like that when things don't go my way. Even after forty-five years Caleb is still carrying that positive attitude. Now that positive attitude is now going to carry him into his Promise Land.  He still believes that he will drive out the giants that the others were so terrified of and take what is his. And that is just what he does (Joshua 15:14). You may have a positive outlook on your situation right now and are believing God's promise for you. Or, it may not be coming to pass as quickly as you would like. You may feel like your wandering, even because of others. Don't let that change what you believe about God's Promise for you. God's promises do not have an expiration date. Carry that positive attitude with you for the long haul, and let it carry you into your Promise Land. Your attitude will eventually determine your altitude.