So how do you adjust your attitude trajectory especially when your circumstances are a mess? Some of us are carrying a huge load that’s messing with our trajectory. Some of us are facing serious illnesses; some are reeling from a family conflict; some are without a job; some of us are facing a serious financial meltdown; some of us are just mad about everything and everyone.

Yet we have a choice as to how we’ll respond to the mess we’re in. We do. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about playing the positive thinking mind game by minimizing our problems. I need to be able to hold an empty glass of water in my hands and know it’s empty and yet appreciate the single drop of water at the bottom of the glass. That’s not a mind game—it’s a skill that, I believe, can be developed through our relationship with God.

Now before I talk about some practical steps to a positive attitude, let me offer you two truths about "circumstances."

Truth 1. Negative circumstances are a reality. Duh! Yet, we all live with a sense of entitlement that our lives should be exempt or immune from pain and problems. Unfortunately, negative circumstances are a part of life, but they don’t have to control our attitude.

Truth 2. "Good" circumstances don’t guarantee happiness. It’s easy to get sucked into the "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. "If I had bigger paycheck, car, or house…if I had a nicer boss or a better job, then I’d be happier. We all know people who have it better, and they aren’t necessarily happier. Here’s what I know: When the grass is greener on the other side of the fence it usually means there’s more manure on that other side or the grass is growing over a septic tank. Here’s the truth: "Good" circumstances don’t guarantee happiness, just as negative circumstances don't guarantee its absence. It’s a matter of personal choice.

Now, I’m not opposed to trying to change our circumstances. Here’s my point: You ought to put as much effort into changing your attitude as you do into changing your circumstances. Focus on fixing what’s in you first and then work on the situations around you.

With this as a backdrop, let me set up an Old Testament story about two men, named Joshua and Caleb, who were winners, had the right stuff and a positive attitude, even though they were surrounded by thousands of negative people. It had been two years since God had miraculously delivered the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Now the nation was poised to enter the Promised Land of Israel. So Moses appointed a team of 12 scouts and sent them on a 40-day exploratory tour of the land. When they returned, Moses held a news conference to receive their report.

The majority report from 10 scouts (the whiners) turned very negative. Numbers 13:27-28; 32-33 says, "'We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit as proof. But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large…The land we explored will swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge…We felt like grasshoppers next to them.'"

When you find yourself surrounded by tough situations and negative people, if you’re going to stay positive, you’d better have the right stuff on the inside or you will crash and burn. Well, the crowd didn’t have the right stuff, and they caved into the negative circumstances and became a bunch of cry-babies or whiners. They threw a hissy-fit all night, complained to Moses, blamed God for their misfortune, and then plotted to rebel against Moses and return to Egypt.

So how can you have the exact same situation—where Joshua and Caleb are so positive and upbeat when everyone else is so negative? Here are four steps to a positive attitude especially when your circumstances are a mess. These steps come out of the impassioned response Joshua and Caleb, the winners, gave to the nation of whiners.

Numbers 14:7-9 says, "'The land we explored is a wonderful land! And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey, and he will give it to us! Do not rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don't be afraid of them!'"

The whiners were saying, "God hates us and wants to punish and destroy us." But Joshua and Caleb were saying, "God is pleased with us, he loves us and is giving us a wonderful land." Here’s the first step to a positive attitude: You must have a Certainty about God’s love for you. Your ability to be positive is directly related to what you believe about God. If you believe God is out to get you, you’ll end up like the whiners in our story.

A second step to a positive attitude is based on having a Confidence in God’s plan for your life.

Joshua and Caleb went on to say in Numbers 14:8, "'God will bring us safely into that land and give it to us.'" The whiners predicted death and destruction. Joshua and Caleb based their positive attitude in a bad situation on their confidence in God’s plan for the nation.

You need a plan, purpose, or vision for your life that’s bigger than you. God has a plan for you. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." It’s God’s vision and purpose for us that give us the confidence that God will work everything out—even the bad stuff—for our good. If you want to discover some clues to God’s plan or purpose for you—sign up for Discovery; it happens in two weeks on Sunday, January 22.

Joshua and Caleb said a third thing in Numbers 14:9, "'Do not rebel against the LORD'". In other words, let’s do exactly what God has told us to do. The whiners were saying, "let’s go back to Egypt, let’s do our own thing and go our own way." A third step on the road to a positive attitude is a commitment to obey God’s Word.

God’s word, the Bible, guides us through the negativity. When you start applying what God says about forgiveness and money and relationships, it’s amazing how attitudes change. Following God’s word can lead to a positive attitude that transcends circumstances. Psalm 119:25 says, "I lie in the dust, completely discouraged; revive me by your word."

A fourth step toward a positive attitude comes from these words of Joshua and Caleb: "don't be afraid of the people of the land…the LORD is with us!" You must have the conviction that God’s power and presence can do what you cannot. Joshua and Caleb weren’t ignoring the huge challenges ahead. They knew the enemy was big and bad, but they also were convinced that God was bigger and "badder."

Joshua and Caleb had the right stuff and took the right steps. You have a choice today. You can ignore the steps to a positive attitude and become a card-carrying whiner and never reach the Promised Land. Sadly, the whole generation of whiners had to die off before the nation got a second chance to enter the land. Or you can adjust your trajectory by walking the steps to a positive attitude and rise above your difficult circumstances and taste the Promised Land.

It’s in God’s reaction to the whiners that we discover the bottom line to a positive attitude. Numbers 14:11says, "And the LORD said to Moses, "'How long will these people reject me? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?'"

The basis of an unshakable positive attitude is a solid belief in God. No, it’s not some fuzzy mental assent, but a strong certainty that God loves you; a solid confidence in God’s plan for you; a commitment to live out his principles; and the conviction that his power and presence can do what you cannot. It takes that kind of belief or trust to rise above difficult circumstances.

Here are the four steps to a positive attitude in the form of a prayer:

God, I’m in a tough situation right now, but…

BE A WINNER, NOT A WHINER!

Numbers 14:1-4 says, "Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. 'We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness' they wailed. 'Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and little ones will be carried off as slaves! Let's get out of here and return to Egypt!' Then they plotted among themselves, 'Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!'

Psalm 43:5 says, "Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God!"

Author Chuck Swindoll writes, "The remarkable thing [about human beings] is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past [or] change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is to play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude."