Fill
Your New Year With Optimism
Seven
Strategies to Attain Optimism—Part 3
Today’s post concludes my blog series about the seven
strategies for attaining optimism. I’m talking about truth-filled hope and an outlook
ordained by God that every follower of Jesus can and should attain.
My previous two posts looked at the first five of the Seven Strategies to Attain Optimism: 1-
Let go of the past. 2- Avoid getting hung up on a negative thing or situation.
3- Remember that, for everyone, life has ups and downs. 4- Watch your mouth. 5-
Practice gratitude.
Today we’ll consider the last two:
Speaking of “fake news”—it doesn’t just
exist in politics. We’re surrounded by half-truths, misleading information,
exaggerated stories, and our own imaginations. These untruths can flood our minds
with worry and wild ideas capable of pulling us down and filling us with
stress.
“My
life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened,”
declared Michel de Montaigne, about 500 years ago. Many of us could say the
same ting today.
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| Photo by Aaron Burden from Unsplash |
Experts report that 85%, and some 99%,
of things people worry about never really happen. Pause for a moment and
consider your own thought life. What thoughts occupy your mind that are not
based on facts?
Where does your imagination wander that does not lift your
spirits?
I recommend we draw our thoughts into
the truth of God’s Word. There we find the reality our Creator wants us to base
our lives upon.
Paul tells us why: “For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2
Corinthians 10:4-5 JKJV).
We need to allow His truth to be a lamp
to the feet of our thoughts and a light for the paths we tread in our minds.
Do you believe God and His Word? The
psalmist did when he wrote, “The entirety of Your Word is truth, and every one
of Your righteous judgements endures forever” (Psalm 119:160 NKJV).
Before His crucifixion, Jesus knew his
followers had to have God’s truth and prayed to the Father: “Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17 NKJV). Sanctify meant to set apart. This is
huge! God’s truth sets us apart from the world. It’s knowing and living by
God’s truth that sets us apart from the world. We’re of another kingdom—God’s
Eternal Kingdom.
So, we should look for truth in
everything that crosses our paths—people, places, and things.
The better we know God and His Word, the
closer will be our relationship with Him. The closer our relationship with Him,
the clearer we’ll hear His voice. The clearer we hear His voice, the keener
will be our sense of discernment. The keener our sense of discernment, the
better will be our ability to know truth when we encounter it—in people,
places, and things.
As we surround ourselves with what is
right and true, the optimism that fills us will overflow to others.
7- Remember that God will have His way
in the end.
I believe we all get pretty frustrated
and angry when we witness injustices, acts of violence, and tragedy. We often
feel helpless and forlorn as streaming news broadcasts the horrors of abused
children, terrorist acts, natural disasters, and the like.
The tsunami of bad news can bring us
into a free fall of pessimism and anxiety. There are many scientific studies
focusing on the affects of negative hews and experiences on a person’s
well-being. But there is no way to escape bad things.
We need to continually remind ourselves
that God knows, God cares, and God loves us with unfailing, unconditional love.
As Christ-followers, we have an internal hope that’s like a pilot light.
A pilot light is “a small gas flame …
which serves as an ignition source for a more powerful gas burner” (Wikipedia).
This pilot light hope never goes out and is always there to ignite the burner
that causes hope to rise up and come against a negative event.
When David was greatly distressed
because all seemed lost and his men turned against him, he “encouraged himself
in the Lord” because he knew his God and within him burned that flicker of
hope. That pilot light of internal hope ignited the burner that caused faith
and hope to rise up in his spirit (1 Samuel 30:6).
Like David, when life beats up on us and
when the world appears to be going in the wrong direction we need to listen to
the Holy Spirit and allow our internal hope to ignite the full flame of knowing
God will have His way ultimately.
Yes, we may go through some discomfort
and heartache along the way. I repeat Jesus words: “In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John
16:33b). We who are in Christ—those born-again—will be partakers of the awesome
Eternal Kingdom He has waiting for us. All hardships and evil will pass away
and a glorious future with our Lord and Savior Jesus awaits us.
Just now I read, in its entirety,
Revelation 19-22 and was reminded that God will have His way in the end.
Revelation 19 begins, “After
these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude on heaven, saying
‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
For true and righteous are His judgements, because…’” (Verses 1-2a).
“Then I saw and angel coming down from
heaven and a new earth … And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more
pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said,
‘Behold, I make all things new …’” (Revelation 21:1a and 4-5).
Rejoice with me in the final passage of
God’s Word, “He (Jesus) who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming
quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all. Amen” Revelation 22:20-21).
Let’s be encouraged by the Good News of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and allow optimism to rise up so the world will see
Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Every time I read the back of His book
I’m blown away by the Ancient of Days—His goodness and greatness—His amazing
grace and unfailing love—His breathtaking holiness and perfect justice. In
reading these Passages, we’re reminded of God’s cosmic beyond-our-imagination
plan. Our God is truly an awesome God.
I would like to challenge each of us to follow the seven
strategies for attaining optimism. We
must remember the bottom line is that ultimately God will have His way and He
takes care of His family in the process.
Let’s pray: Holy
Father, thank You for the hope that resides in Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Please help me to be mindful of the reasons I can be optimistic. And help me
encourage others as well. I know that with Your Spirit in me, I can beam with
optimism even in tough times and be a light in darkness because of Your
unfailing love. Thank You, Father. In Jesus name—Amen.
Your
comments are welcome.
©Copyright
2018 Connie Wohlford
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