What do you see? 

We are told that if I see a half full glass – it is good, because it means I am optimistic. Vice versa and it means I am pessimistic.

Contentment does not equate to joy. Neither can discontentment equate to a lack of joy. 

Exodus 13:17 – 14:15

The above is a familiar biblical account of the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt. But when the Israelites were finally out of Egypt, with the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army pursuing them, this is what they said. 

“And they (the Israelites) said to Moses, “Because there are no graves in Egypt? Is that why you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this you have done to us by bringing us out from Egypt! 12 Isn’t this the word we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve Egypt!’ because serving Egypt is better for us than our dying in the desert.” 

Exodus 14:11-12

All of a sudden, the Israelites are contented with being slaves in Egypt! They had forgotten how Pharoah had worked them mercilessly. They had forgotten how Pharoah had commanded the genocide of all the Israelite male babies. 

When surrounded with danger, the Israelites instinctively looked at their past – their half full cup. 

“We were not going to die in Egypt, the work was hard but we could stay alive! Look  what you’ve done, Moses!”  

Looking at their “half full cup” – the Israelites were contented. But were they happy? 

How did Moses answer these Israelites who were focusing on their past – people contented with their “half full cup”? 

“You must not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will accomplish for you today, because the Egyptians whom you see today you will see never again. Yahweh will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”

Exodus 14:13-14

Moses shifted their focus to their half-empty “cup” – the future. A future where the Lord would wipe out the Egyptian enemies in hot pursuit of them. A future where they could be free of slavery and genocide!  

It is not always beneficial to look at your “half full cup” – your past. But we tend to do this when we are facing a crisis, lamenting that the past was better. Human weakness causes us to suffer a sudden self-inflicted “amnesia” of forgetting how truly undesirable the past was. It causes us to become contented with our less than ideal “half full cup”. 

Setting your sights on your half empty “cup” – which is your future – contributes a lot more to your growth mentality. Moses’ reply to the Israelites was to shift their perspective to the future. 

True, one cannot be contented with the future, because it has not been fulfilled. Yet this discontentment – looking at our “half empty cup” – brings us hope. Much more hopeful than lowering your expectations and telling yourself that you are contented with your less than ideal past. This would be self-deception. 

Would not this hopeful discontentment bring more hope and joy? 

Shifting your focus to the future where the potential for progress and hope lay, does better for your growth and your joy than dwelling in your past.