Do you find yourself getting discouraged when you listen to or watch the news? Do you find yourself thinking that there is no way out of the huge messes we are in? I’m talking about the messes locally, statewide, nationwide, and yes–even worldwide!

If your prayer list doesn’t grow after the hearing the news, then I can pretty much guarantee you what is growing inside of you–anxiety! At least that is what happens to me. If I don’t pray about the things that are happening here and abroad, I find my blood pressure going up and I start thinking about where we are heading as a state, nation, and world.

When seen through human eyes then, these feelings are quite natural and quite correct. There are a ridiculous amount of problems that we are facing today. Is it more than past generations? In my opinion it is not. EVERY generation has had hardships and problems to deal with. Just now, with 24-hour news cycles and how quickly news travels we hear about the bad news from everywhere it seems.

So, let’s get to something we can control–where our hope comes from. Where does your hope come from? If it is coming from anyone other than the Lord then you are going to be left very unfulfilled. Does your hope come from the Supreme Court? The president? Congress? Your state legislature? If it is, then good luck with that!!

My hope comes from the Lord, and that is why I can still have optimism in these difficult times we live in. Am I saying that God has shown me the answers to all these problems? Ahhh, no, I don’t think so. But, I was shown a verse in the Bible a few years ago by my good friend Mike that has truly helped me see life and its problems in a different light.

It comes from the Book of Habakkuk. No, Mike didn’t that up, there really is a book in the Bible called Habakkuk. It is one of the so-called minor prophets. Anyway, Habakkuk 3:17-19 reads, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” (emphasis added)

I love these verses!! You see, life had some pretty dire circumstances 2600 years ago when that book was written. There have been bad times ever since and will continue to be bad times until Christ comes again. So, we can choose to focus on the bad times, or we can realize that we weren’t promised to have all good times this side of heaven. But, we know how the story ends and that should always cause us to be optimists in difficult times. Not on the sidelines–but in the trenches fighting the good fight! We don’t need just optimistic critics, we need optimistic statesmen and stateswomen. We need optimistic leaders and followers. We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a broken world. But, let’s never lose hope!

More to come,
Jeremy