Faith in God And Positive Thinking: How to be optimistic In the Bible

Have you ever wondered if God is optimistic?

Think of it for a moment, a world lost and in rebellion for which God has plans to save and restore.

Jesus will soon return to carry out that task and rescue us from the difficulties of this life and take us with him to dwell in peace and happiness.

It is clear that God takes optimism seriously.

The whole Bible is full of optimism.

Full of hope for a better future.

This being a reality, those of us who believe in God also need to enjoy his optimism.

However, the question arises, how to be optimistic?

To answer it, I would like to share with you a small fragment from the Bible in which we see someone being quite optimistic.

We will reflect on this.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

(…) I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

Philippians 1:12-14;19

In the previous text, the apostle Paul writes from prison, perhaps in Ephesus or in Rome, to the brethren of the church of Philippi.

Paul was going through a very adverse and difficult situation.

He was chained and in prison, suffering all kinds of deprivations.

Despite this, instead of having a fatalistic and defeatist view of the issue; we can see from his words that on the contrary, he was satisfied with the circumstances.

He looked at the positive side of things.

That’s the first characteristic of an optimistic person.

Strive to see the positive

To be optimistic, we need to start looking for positive things in adverse situations.

Stop for a moment and think things like:

  • Is there anything good to rescue from all this?
  • Is this teaching me anything?
  • Is anyone benefiting?
  • Is God’s purpose being fulfilled?
  • Is this circumstance serving to make people around me receive the testimony of Christ?

I know it’s hard, however, always try to ask yourself if there’s anything positive and do your best to find it.

That will bring the best effect to your mental health.

Be intentional in your trust in God

The second thing I want to highlight is trusting in God.

Paul is confident that God is in control of this difficult circumstance.

For this reason, he appreciates the prayers of the brethren and is also glad that the work of the gospel is moving forward.

Trust in God is not something that just happens, it’s not a passing emotion.

This is a principle that we need to ask God to help us incorporate into our lives.

We do our part to incorporate it by knowingly and intentionally exercising that trust, even if it is difficult for us to do so.

When our mind tells us that nothing good is going to happen, that nothing good is happening, let us take those struggles to God in prayer.

Let us ask him to give us rest.

Then in faith, let us discard that thought and replace it with thoughts of trust and certainty in God’s love, care, and direction.

That will make all the difference.

Teach yourself to hope for the best from God

The third thing I want to emphasize is that we need to learn to expect the best from God.

In the specific case, the apostle Paul looks to the future with hope because his trust is placed in God, and he can say that he will be released from his prison.

We are given no indication as to why Paul was convinced that this was going to happen.

Still, we can see that he understood God’s character of love and knew he could expect the best from Him.

In many cases, we are not optimistic because, due to life circumstances, we have not yet learned to expect the best from the hand of God.

This even has psychological explanations.

We’re not going to get into them now.

However, think that God loves you, think that God wants the best for you, think that God cares about you.

Then consider the best possible positive outcomes for your circumstance.

Give yourself the opportunity to believe that God in his infinite love wants to give them to you.

Try it even if it is difficult, you will be closer to changing your perspective.

Keep an eternal hopeful perspective

The fourth thing I want to emphasize is that to be optimistic, we need to keep alive God’s promised hope for the future.

Later in the chapter, we see the apostle leaning on the hope of being with Christ.

Christians have the eternal hope of redemption, we know that no matter what happens on this earth, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

That gives us the strength to move forward.

Being optimistic requires us to see the future for what it is in Christ, a good future, a beautiful future, a healthy future, a future of eternal peace and happiness.

Nothing can take away our hope.

Keep it alive, and you will live a life closer to the ideal of optimism you desire.

I hope this has been a blessing to you.


What do you think? Would you like to be optimistic? Share in the comments.

A hug, God bless you.

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