"Pessimism"
I had an awful feelin’,
That every horse would buck,
Just because of that one,
When I ran out of luck.
I had an awful feelin’,
That every dog would bite,
Because of that old pit bull,
That gave me such a fight.
I had an awful feelin’,
That I could trust no friend,
Because of that betrayal,
How long it took to mend.
I had an awful feelin’,
That I could never win,
Because I’d failed so often,
Was just an old has been.
But you know those old feelin's,
Are negative and wrong,
And not a one is truthful,
Just with me for so long.
But just because they’re tenured,
Doesn’t make them right,
I need to pray about it,
And put things in the light.
Some horses are quiet gentle,
And dogs with happy wags,
And some friends are trustworthy,
And there’s still rich from rags.
My guess is I’ll feel better,
And probably so will you,
If we don’t let pessimism,
Steal what’s right and true.
“I will protect those who trust in My name…” (Ps. 91:14, NLT)
Can we trust God? Can we have a positive expectation about the future? Or shall we lower our expectations or worse, expect something bad? That said, bad things happen. As someone once said, “It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets worse.” Wow. Really? But if God is in control and we love and trust Him, how do we feel about it? Well, better than others. Why is that? Because we don’t accept the world view that things just randomly happen. We believe in a plan, a design, and a purpose that is over-arching and at the same runs through the details of history like a thread. It is both panoramic and particular, and above all, personal. It’s personal because we believe in a personal God who didn’t just wind it up and walk away. He remains engaged with all He has created, and by His Spirit interacts in this time/space dimension to bless, protect, deliver and speak. Bad experiences happen, but they don’t win because He is Lord.
Lord, teach us to trust You, in Jesus’ name.
Steve Devenyns, stevedevenyns.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Steve, and God bless you.