Optimism Is The Better Choice.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace that you may overflow with hope.” Romans 15:13 NIV.
My thoughts and comments are about, “the great exchange.”
Good things are wonderful when they occur, and many times they will. But life cannot always be accurately predicted. Everything that happens to you will not always be good in that moment. It seems presumptuous to assume otherwise. All things do not go well all the time for any of us.
In such a time, trust your worries and fears to your Heavenly Father’s character and will. Paul was assuring that our Father, “knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:28 MSG.
Optimism is always a better choice than pessimism. But optimism alone cannot change a present reality. Your present path may feel challenging, harder rather than easier. Hopes you have had may seem blurred by the moment’s doubt. There have been, and will yet be, times when your best efforts fail to accomplish what you hoped. You were diligent yet experienced what then seemed a reversal of fortune by no fault of your own.
Such situations can become befuddling, and you may feel tempted to cut your losses and just try to get through it. In disturbing times, it is better to seek and find a Biblical anchor. Truth brings healing and hope. Hope produces solid footing. No one can live well or long without hope.
Hope was the Apostle Paul’s desire and confidence for every believer. ”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV.
Hope overflows from your heart, and flows to God’s heart, and from God’s heart to your faith, and from your faith to your circumstance. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure . .” Read Hebrews 6:17-20 NIV.
Our Savior will hold you safe and secure when you remain anchored to His Father’s Word by faith and obedience. If you bring it all to Jesus – your broken dreams, your plans that went awry, your best efforts that failed, your heart full of questions, and your disappointments and things not understood – He will restore what was stolen from you.
The process of true freedom requires your voluntary exchange. You give God what looks and feels to you like nothing more than ashes, the residue of yesterday’s reality and tomorrow’s uncertainty. In return, God gives you, “comfort, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Isaiah 61:3 NKJ. Now that is the great exchange. Trust your Heavenly Father with all that causes you regret, sadness, and worry. Ask and allow the Holy Spirit to anoint you with His oil of gladness.
My prayer for you today is to fill your heavy heart with the joy of the Lord.
EDL Communications 2019
Website and archives: allenrandolph.com