Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Silly question, right? But it really is all about perspective, and this question can tell you a lot about a person’s mindset.
Some people describe that glass as half empty. Those are the pessimists. Others see that glass as being half full. They are optimists. So what does a practical person say, upon looking at the very same glass? “Are you going to drink that?”
In the book of John we see this Gospel event, John doesn’t even admit to the glass being half empty. John said: “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:3) They struck out,and they were getting ready to go home.
They didn't catch anything, and John talks about failure. Was he being a pessimist? Since God teaches that every Word in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is God being a pessimist?
How about you, in your life of faith in Christ, are you also a pessimist? Is the glass mostly half-empty when you tell others the story of your life?
and haven’t you been there while a friend is describing something negative that happened & another person pops up with these words, “That’s the story of my life!” They aren’t talking about a glass that’s half-full, are they?
Relating to each other’s suffering is a good thing in many respects. It creates a sort of comradery that strengthens & encourages each other. Knowing that we’re not alone in our struggles is helpful in resisting the temptations to surrender or despair.
But can the glass half-empty seriously be the story of any Christian’s life? We should be careful how “caught up” we get in that sort of viewpoint, because in John also recorded these words of Jesus: “The thief comes only to steal & kill & destroy; I have come that they may have life, & have it to the full. If we come at life from the glass is half-empty viewpoint, Satan may have already stolen our Savior’s promises from us.
Looking at the glass as half-empty can make us deny, the blessings that our Father in heaven offers to you & to me each & every day of our lives.
Jesus was not lying, or even exaggerating, when He said, “I have come that they may have life, & have it to the full.”
If you are looking at your life & honestly see it as only half-full, there’s a sense in which you are rejecting the Words & promises of Christ.
In the Gospel of John is the promise of life given to us by the Son of God, who is our Lord & Savior.
The promise 1st appears in 1:4, “In [the Son of God] was life and the life was the light of men.” In John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’”
So in John 6: 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”is that Jesus is rubbing in the fact that His disciples failed to catch a single fish. In today’s language we might say Jesus is throwing His disciples under the bus. It’s generally thought of as not a very nice thing to do. So why would Jesus do it,
Jesus is highlighting the failure of the disciples to catch any fish. Since He’s God, it’s difficult to believe that Jesus is being a pessimist. Since He willingly died for us, it’s not likely He’d throw other people under the bus just to make Himself feel better.
People see the glass as half-empty because they are used to accepting defeat and quickly jump to a conclusion.
I believe the one reason so many people, Democrats & Republicans, are afraid of Donald Trump. If he’s elected, they can’t trust him to cover up their sin. He might even rat them out & expose their corruption.
Our world and the government system is so corrupt because people in this world are no longer depending on Jesus for life.
That is the main point that John revolves around. When Jesus enters the scene and His disciples heed His voice, we see these fisherman overwhelmed with God’s abundant supply.
By the word of His voice, Jesus brings about transition and change in the lives of those who listen to and obey, His Words.
Yes, there is no such thing as heaven on earth, but there is life, & that is life as God defines it, creates it & blesses it. As Jesus spent 40 days & nights fasting in the wilderness, Satan tempts Him with the premise that food is life. The devil suggests that Jesus turn stones into bread so He can eat, & have life.
Jesus’ godly reply is that man does not live by bread alone. Instead, man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So as the disciples listen to the words of Jesus, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, & you will find some,” when they do it, “they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”[2]
The reason we so often see the glass as half-empty is that we evaluate our circumstances with very different criteria than our heavenly Father does. If you’ve ever noticed it, the Gospel of John adds something unique to the account of the feeding of the 5000. Matthew, Mark & Luke do not record it. The closing verse in John says,
“Perceiving then that they were about to come & take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.” (John 6:15) In the minds of the people who were fed, the life Jesus gave them was merely physical.
They did not understand the spiritual dynamics of what Jesus had just done. He’d given them a taste of heaven, here on earth. When Jesus was transfigured, He gave Peter, James & John, a taste of heaven here on earth. When Jesus performed any of His miracles, people were seeing a glimpse of heaven, here on earth. F
Even after hearing today’s Gospel lesson, all of us will struggle to get it. The life Jesus promised to give us, is so far beyond what we can see, & hear & feel, that even when we have that life, we seldom know it. Our glass is full to overflowing, yet we don’t recognize the signs. We see only a glass half-empty & fail to be satisfied or thankful.
When St. Paul writes that we live by faith, not by sight, this Gospel lesson is one of the circumstances Paul is referring to. We already now have life to the full, but we rarely experience it in those terms here on earth. Jesus highlights the failure of the disciples to catch any fish at all, not to throw them under the bus, but for the purpose of highlighting how God does provide.
Whether it’s surgery, or cancer, a leaky roof, or a divorce custody arrangement for the children… How do you tell the stories of your life? For what purpose do you tell the stories of your life? Is it to gain sympathy, or to highlight Jesus and the work Jesus did in your life? Do you tell your stories to frighten people, or make them laugh, or to showcase the promise of life Jesus gives?
The Son of God never covers up our sins, as many politicians do. Jesus actually pays the penalty for them & then forgives us for our sins. He calls out the disciples on their failure to catch fish on their own, so they confess their need & notice all the more clearly that Jesus, with no effort at all, provided everything they needed to sustain them physically & spiritually.
The question of whether you view life from a cup being half-full or half-empty? Our answer reveals if we are an optimist or a pessimist. Optimists will say that the glass is half-full, whereas pessimists will usually point out that it's half-empty. Optimists tend to focus on the good; that there is still water in the cup to drink. Pessimists, on the other hand, see the negative; that there is water missing from the once full glass.
We all can face struggles in life that wear us down and discourage us. In times like this, the old saying of the half-cup can leave us empty.
Why? Because it suggests that the answer to our troubles is found in simply changing our perspective. While there is a half-truth here, thinking that all we need is a change of perspective can become like a riptide that pulls us out into deeper despair as hard times come.
While a positive perspective concerning our troubles can help us, there is something better for the Christian to do. For no matter which side of our half-cup debate we find ourselves on, we are still living our life in view of circumstances rather than from the Lord’s love and care for us.
I would guess that most of us desire to have the optimists view, but when I was studying I found out that there was a third option that was even better.
“While some view the world from a half-full perspective and others from a half-empty one, the Christian should see it as a cup that is overflowing!”
This is the promise from God that I can live an abundant and an overflowing life. This is what Christ came to do. He came to not just give us life but to give life abundantly! “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10) Knowing this allows me to live in the present while gazing into the eternal. It brings me life in the midst of death. It breaths hope into the hopeless.
The overflowing life that Jesus gives can never be depleted because it is continually being replenished. Therefore, the half-cup metaphor does not apply. Through our faith in Christ, the Father gives us, by His Spirit, new life that enables us to see beyond our pain and rest in the hope Jeus Christ brings.
From a Roman prison Paul instructs the believers in Philippi saying, “…I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
If we can say AMEN to this, then we are likely to already know what it means to live life with a cup that is overflowing.
David uses this image in Psalm 23:5-6 testifying of both what the Lord has done and what awaits those who trust in Him,
5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
When we view life as a cup that is overflowing with blessings
Then we will be able to rest in the promises that the Lord gives rather than thinking is the cup, half full or half empty.
I believe that what is needed is in order to change the perspective (half-full or half-empty), Is to look to the Lord for my overflow and discover the abundant, overflowing life that Jesus gives to all who believe.
In Conclusion
Is the glass half empty or half full to you? For me, I am just glad I have a glass. Many others in this world have little or nothing, so compared to most people in this world. There are many people in this world who are still living with discontentment.
And they can make it miserable for those who live according to the glass half full view point.
It’s time to have our minds renewed by God’s Spirit, and to gain an eternal perspective; to commit all of that discontentment to God; to seek God’s supernatural power and to commit everything to prayer.
That’s how to be a “glass-half-full” person. We’ve got enough glass“half-empty” people.
Just think about the many blessings we already have compared to the homeless and those less fortunate in this world. Not only do we have a half-full glass, many of us have a loving spouse, a job, a car, enough food for the week, heat in the winter, air-conditioning in the summer, a roof over our head, and a bed to sleep on. I’ve been blessed by God, but I still struggle with the vicissitudes of life
You must remember that “things” and situations are temporary…the kingdom of God is eternal. When you look at all your blessings, then you can say
God has smiled on me, He has set me free, God has smiled on me, God has been good to me, He is the cause of all my joy, Fills me with His love and Everything I need.
