I don’t want to sound negative, but I’m getting sick and tired of negative news. It gets overwhelming. Lately we have really difficult news: people getting sick and dying, the economy and businesses struggling, and widespread unemployment. It can feel like it’s the end of the world. It’s easy to get sucked into the negativity, anxiety and fear. Sometimes I wonder, is everything going to be ok? It’s a fight, to keep seeing the positive, and to keep believing: God’s got this!
Today we are starting a new sermon series called Stay Positive. Actually, we did a sermon series, “Stay Positive”, two years ago. But I feel like I need a positive boost, we all need to exercise our positive muscles, so we don’t let life get us down. We’re going to stay joyful, stay hopeful, and Stay Positive!
Today and for the next five weeks, we’ll talk about optimism, gratefulness, encouragement, generosity, enthusiasm, and confidence.
I want us to be reminded, that there is good right now. Everybody used to be so busy before Covid. Well, things have slowed down. That’s good! You can look around and find good. And there will be good in the future: There will be jobs, and good health, and we’ll see all our friends again. There will be so many blessings!
A positive attitude makes life better. You want an attitude of faith that God is still working, God is still for you. A negative attitude brings you down. Too much negativity, and you don’t even want to try. But optimism, makes you healthier and helps you cope with difficult situations. Optimism and faith in God, gets you out of bed every morning, looking forward to the great things God has in store, in the day ahead.
So today we are going to hear from a very optimistic Christian, named Paul. We will learn optimism from one of the best!
But before that, I do want to talk about what optimism is not. Optimism is not a denial of reality. It’s not putting our head in the sand and acting like everything is okay. It’s not having a positive attitude no matter what. No, there really are significant challenges all over the world. Optimism is not wishful thinking. The dictionary says optimism is confidence about the future, or confidence you can do what you plan to do. A follower of Jesus has even more than that. A follower of Jesus can have confidence in God, in what God is doing now and will do. A faith filled optimism is an unwavering expectation that our loving God is working in every situation for our future good. It’s an unwavering confidence deep in our souls that God is working for our good. He’s involved in our lives.
The apostle Paul, our optimistic teacher, he said in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things, (can you say, all things”) so all things could mean your impossible boss, or in the challenge of home educating your kids, or your annoying family member: In all things our God “works for the good of those who love Him, who’ve been called according to His purpose.
God doesn’t cause bad things to happen. And God aches with us, when we are hurting. Still, God finds a way to work in difficulties for the good. Our faith is all about the good news: the worst day of Jesus’ life, when he was betrayed, arrested, beaten, mocked, tortured and killed, did bad news have the last word? No, it did not! God brought good out of bad. God brought resurrection. And God brought grace and forgiveness out of a terrible situation. We’ve got big problems. We’ve got a bigger God.
In all things God works for the good.
Paul says in Romans 8:18: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us! Paul knows a lot about present sufferings. But he was unstoppable. You can throw him in jail, but it doesn’t faze him. When he gets out, he keeps going. He keeps doing the dangerous work of a missionary! And that time in Rome when he didn’t get out of jail, had to stay there long term? He was so happy that he was in jail, because he got to influence the guards who were part of the Roman emperor’s circle. He got to tell them about Jesus. So, Paul was influencing the Roman empire by being in jail! Paul was joyful in jail! I said he was an optimist.
In his life, Paul was shipwrecked and beaten, tortured and thrown out of town. A lot of things were taken from Paul. But he had an unwavering confidence that God was working in every situation for his future good. His thoughts were: do I have a problem? Well, maybe, but I have a bigger God! The problems don’t compare! We’ve got big problems. We’ve got a bigger God.
No matter what troubles he went through, there was one thing no one could take from Paul: his optimistic, unwavering confidence in God working for good.
When things taken away. What can they never take away from you? Your choice to place your faith in God, your unwavering confidence that God is good and will do good things. No one can take away your optimism. I’ve known optimistic homeless people. And I wondered, “What do they have to be happy about?” But that’s the power of an optimistic attitude and unwavering confidence in God: no one can ever take it away from you. We’ve got big problems. We’ve got a bigger God.
How do you view the future? Think about that for a moment. If your thoughts are consumed with negativity, and fear and worry and anxiety, that’s really bad news. Because what consumes your mind tends to control your life. The life that you have reflects the thoughts you think. So if you tend to think: “I hate my circumstances,” “I can’t trust anyone,” “The world is always in trouble,” then you’re not going to get to the end of the day and say, “Wow, this was the best day ever!” What consumes your thoughts controls your life.
If your thoughts are: “I’m never gonna have a good life, we’re always going to struggle,” then you can start to live with a victim mentality. “The economy is bad, I’ll never get the job I want, the virus is unstoppable, we’re going to have to wear a mask for the rest of our lives.”
What we have to recognize is that being content, being satisfied, being blessed, being optimistic, it isn’t a state of affairs. It’s a state of mind!
If you feed your faith your fears will starve. So, distance yourself from the voices that only say, “The world is falling apart.” Put yourself on a news diet. Due to Covid: I am on a Covid diet: I ate too much during Covid. I am now realizing: I need to go on a news diet too. I don’t need bad news coming at me all day. Once a day, 30 minutes of news is enough so I know what’s going on. On a news diet, I’m a happier, more optimistic me and you’re a happier, more optimistic you!
There are always things in life that are out of our control, things we are not able to stop or change. The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on school, work, and causing fears about health and finances. Coronavirus limits the hugs we get, limits the social gatherings we can be part of. But we have control over our attitude. We have control over our thoughts, we can decide to put our confidence in God. We can have the attitude, “God is working to beat the virus!” We’ve got big problems. We’ve got a bigger God.
My homework for you this week is to read Romans 8:38-39: 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The apostle Paul gave us a pep talk in Romans 8. Basically, Paul says: God loves you. Nothing can change that. God is working for good. You may not see God, but He’s still present, He’s still good, and even when the devil means something for evil, God can turn it into good. What consumes your thoughts controls your life. Why not try Paul’s way of living? Try on an optimistic attitude, and unwavering confidence in what God will do. We’ve got big problems. No worries: We’ve got a bigger God. I invite you to join us next week for “The Cure for Complaining.” Stay positive!
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