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Funny, how both optimists and pessimists claim they are the realists. Both have truth, and both tend to ignore the other dimension of reality. My pessimism forced me to choose to develop optimism to save my sanity…and perhaps my life. But how do we balance the realism of both troubles and good times?
Having been taught by the best
my Rams
my Angels
my Trojans
I’ve learned to expect disappointment
failure
depression
losses
from imperfect
athletes
coaches
schemes
facilities
rolls of the dice
like me
all imperfect persons
So why should I not expect imperfection in me
especially following a perfect deity?
I understand this for me
but for thee?
Pessimists may focus on imperfection, idealists may ignore it. But how does scripture synthesize those into health? Some facts that we can keep in mind.
1 Imperfection touches all of life, according to Jesus, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows” (John 16:33, NLT). Pretty definite, right? And imperfection infects his followers, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (1 John 1:8 NLT).
As we watch my Lakers, my wife Sheila just can’t comprehend how these gifted athletes, paid millions of dollars, can’t make all their free throws, which are uncontested. Well, imperfection abounds!
2 Good does exist. We see decent people do good acts every day. And likely the best example comes from the rest of John 16:33, that I intentionally shortened above, “…But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” He overcomes the world by not abandoning us to imperfections and troubles, but working with us through them, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). “In all things,” the imperfections and problems and sin. Yes they are wrong, but God works in them, not particularly for the end result we desire, but what matches his purposes. If our greatest desire is to honor him, then that’s good for us.
3 How do we balance this? Bad will happen, but try to avoid expecting it: that sours your mood. Good will happen, but try to avoid expecting it: that can ignore real problems. Realize that much exceeds our control. What we can validly expect is that God will be with us and work for good within in.
We do the good that is in our power. Then we leave it to him to sort it out, and rest in the arms of our Father.
Simplistic? Maybe. But that has saved my life, and I pray this benefits yours.
Kick Starting the Application
On the spectrum of optimism/pessimism, where do you land? Any ideas why? Have you tried changing your bent? How does your relationship with God influence your attitudes?