Are You A Spiritual Optimist?

If you have faith and you exercise your faith then you are a "spiritual optimist."

I don't know about you, but I needed yesterday's message on faith . It takes faith to believe that God is God and that the sun rose this morning because God is still God and He deemed it so. And the same will be true tomorrow only if it's His will.

I watched a movie Friday night called "Faith Like Potatoes." It was a good movie, although there was one scene that I would caution parents about if you have younger children - it was a scene about the death of a little boy - tragic and troubling - and there may have been a little rough language here and there (I don't really remember) but the message was crystal clear. It takes faith to walk with God and at the same time God has faith in us that He can use us for His purposes.

David was an optimist:
1 Samuel 17:45-46 (NIV)
David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

David was an optimist because he had faith. Henry Blackaby puts it this way, "A pessimist focuses on the problems, concentrating on the reasons something cannot be done. An optimist sees those same problems, but he sees them from the perspective of God's presence. Optimists do not ignore the difficulties; they are keenly aware of them. But the knowledge of God's presence prevents them from becoming discouraged or giving up. It is impossible to stand in the presence of God and be a pessimist!"

Are you a "spiritual optimist?"