Faith-Based Optimism

Attitude. In my reading this morning, I came across a quotation about attitude from Victor Frankl, who spent some time in a Nazi concentration camp. Now here's a guy who, when he talks about attitude, deserves a listening ear. He wrote,

Everything can be taken from men but one thing, the last of human freedoms - the ability to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.

In any circumstance, we can think positively or negatively. The glass is either half full or half empty. It is either partly sunny or partly cloudy.

We can be optimistic or pessimistic. We can be like Tigger, or we can be like Eeyore. I like to have the energetic optimism of Tigger, but my default setting tends to be the lazy pessimism of Eeyore. But each day, in each circumstance, I do have a choice!

As followers of Christ, we are called to live a life of optimism. Not blind optimism, but an optimism based on faith. We can make a conscious decision to look at life from the perspective that confidence in God provides. We can be optimistic because of who God is and what He has promised He will do. In our ever-changing circumstances, we can trust in the God who never changes.