Christians Are To Be Optimists
The Bible tells us that honest people only see opportunities (Prov 15:19, CW). This is an expression of optimism. Joy is a key characteristic of believing in the Lord (Acts 13:52; Rom 14:17; Gal 5:22). Yet, for those who are joyful, there is always reason to celebrate as if at a festival (Prov 15:15, JB). This, too, is an indication of optimistic thinking. Similarly, the virtuous wife who lives by God’s wisdom (Prov 31:26), smiles when thinking of the future (Prov 31:25). She is optimistic. Why? She realizes that everything serves the plans of the One each believer is to address as ‘Dear Father’ (Ps 119:91, NLT-2015 with Rom 8:15). Hence, a mind disciplined to focus on these truths knows that everything can be used to move us toward greater life (Prov 15:19, Knox). Whatever happens is an opportunity to experience His presence and faithfulness again (Ps 84:6, BSB note).
Let’s look at just two examples of optimism. First, despite losing most of his battles, in June of 1871 George Washington was confident that the Americans would win their freedom from Great Britain. With so many obstacles and setbacks, having the leader of the army exude this confidence was extremely helpful. Second, after Pearl Harbor was bombed, Admiral Nimitz went to assess the damage. Though morale was poor and pessimism was typical, Nimitz looked at what was positive about the attack: neither the 4.5 million barrels of oil nor the submarine base had been destroyed. In addition, six of the eight battleships were able to be repaired with far less life lost than would have happened had the American fleet been attacked on the open sea. Nimitz looked for and found a huge silver lining. Instead of blaming anyone, he encouraged everyone to look with optimism to the future. This changed the whole outlook (Carver, The War Lords, p 404).
If we are His children, God is with us and will bring good out of every situation we face (Rom 8:28). Isn’t this reason enough to be optimistic? We need to look at the positives, like Nimitz did, and at the value of perseverance, as Washington did. Instead of recounting, in our mind or to others, our spouse’s negatives, for example, why don’t we recount their positives? We might just have a very different attitude toward them if we do. If we choose to talk about our mate’s good qualities, we can learn to be more optimistic. Besides, Christians, of all people, should be optimistic because we can count on the Lord’s help now (Rom 8:31-39) and know that our story will be wonderful after our physical death (Rev 21:4).
We are to fulfill proper duties no matter how unpleasant they are.