optimism

How do we trust God when he doesn’t do what we’re trusting him to do? Each of us experiences disappointment with God on occasion; only the most naïve would expect the Lord to give them everything they ask for every time they ask for it. However, when a true challenge arises and God does not give us what we ask, our faith can be shaken to its foundations. We can question whether God is who the Bible and the Christian faith claim him to be. Or we can question whether we are who the Bible and the Christian faith claim us to be.

We can reach upward and inward to the God who reached downward to us. We can find in Immanuel the help and hope we need to face an ongoing pandemic and uncertain future. But as with all other Christmas gifts, this one must be opened. Not to put on the shelf, but to place in our hearts. Not as a holiday, but as a holy day. Not for a day of the year, but for every day of the year.

A significant key to refusing temptation and strengthening our personal character is deciding before temptation strikes that God is always right and Satan is always wrong. It is choosing to believe that our Father knows better than we do and that he only wants what is best for us.

In recent days, I’ve been suggesting a case for Christian optimism based on several facts. Let’s close with this question: How do we remain optimistic when causes for pessimism confront us daily?

I have been making a case for Christian optimism in recent days based on several facts. Today, let’s consider a fifth factor: our lives are lived best in relationship with our Maker, a fact that demonstrates the abiding relevance of our Lord to our broken world.

In recent days, I have been outlining a case for Christian optimism. Today, let’s add another component: secularism inevitably fails to keep its promises, demonstrating our need for faith in a transcendent God.

If you have established a personal relationship with Jesus, how would he describe that relationship today? To draw closer to him, listen to him in his word and meet with him in worship. Ask his Spirit to show you anything that is blocking your relationship with him and confess what comes to your thoughts. Then ask Jesus to make himself more real to you than ever before, knowing that he wants such intimacy with you even more than you do with him.

We may be the last generation before judgment. We may be living in that generation that refuses to repent and return to God and is so far gone, a holy Lord has no choice but to judge us. As is often said, if God does not bring judgment against America, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. But we may not be that generation. It may not be too late. It may be that many in our nation will turn to God in repentance leading to genuine spiritual awakening.

In writing on thanksgiving during a pandemic, my purpose is not to be naïve but to suggest that choosing an attitude of gratitude even in the darkest days is best for us. It honors the One who made us, loves us, and redeems us by his grace. And it shows a suffering world that our hope is based not on our suffering world but on our loving Lord.

How can we become more optimistic? One answer is to hope for things to change. A better answer is to be the change we want to see in the world.