I have come to believe that if you want to find things to scare you – things that add worry to your life – things that make you look pessimistically at this world – then you will find them. They’re everywhere. This world is full of things that can fill us with doubt, anger, disappointment, sadness, fear, and trepidation.
I have also come to believe that if you want to find things that give you joy, then you will find them. With the right approach you will find sheer beauty, overwhelming love, abundant grace, and so on. This world that we’ve been given is overflowing with awesomeness.
So what approach are you taking?
I had a young man in my youth group wrestle greatly with his faith. In preparation for his affirmation of baptism, he did a Google search asking “Does God exist?” And, in the age we are in, he had literally over 7 million answers to his question in less than a second. The answers were, of course, varied. But he found a plethora of people writing with an authority of doubt on the topic (and many of these folks are exalted as some of the greatest minds our world has ever known). So, sure enough, this young man started to doubt. He was looking for opposition to his beliefs and he found it.
Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find.
Our church staff watched a video called “For the love of it” when I was on staff. It was all about perspective and falling in love with what you get to do. In the ups and downs of the world, it was a fantastic reminder to rejoice for the opportunities that we are given. Many of us get to do what we love, but we all can love what we do.
Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find.
Church life can be frustrating. Home life can be frustrating. School/work can be frustrating. But they can also be fantastic and overwhelmingly superb. The narrator of “For the love of it” told a story of how his mom made certain to start each day with a full cup. Do you look at the things of this world with hope?
It really is about hope, isn’t it? Some of my favorite scripture comes from Paul’s letter to the people of Corinth. Here he ends the now famous marriage scripture with this: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Paul is saying that the only things that matter in this life, when it’s all boiled down, are faith…hope…and love. We need to have faith in God and what He is doing in this world. We need to have hope (optimism) that God is glorious and that He will reign. And we need to have love – an outward, overflowing love like Christ has for us. We need to love what we do. This overarching idea of love will dictate our attitudes and outlooks.
If you’re looking for a reason to pout and to doubt…well, you have it. But if you’re looking for a reason to have hope in this world, then you have it. Jesus Christ came to this world so that our doubt would be wiped away. Sure there will be tough times – but please, my friends – don’t lose sight of the hope that overpowers all the crud of this world.
So if you’re having a pity party today, make sure you don’t invite me. I’m looking for a party of celebration and rejoicing. Chances are I’ll find what I’m looking for!
Erik Hatch
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