change your perspective

do you live a life full of hope? full of expectancy for what God is going to do? or does hoping seem too pointless? life has extinguished your ability to hope – to desire, to trust. now you see the world in one color, all is bleak, cynicism is growing, and you are forgetting how to live with hope.

a group of ancient greek philosophers called themselves the ‘cynics’. the cynics saw that to live a virtuous life was to live in accordance with nature, for nature offers the clearest indication of how to live the good life. this ‘good life’ the cynics believe in is characterized by reason, self-sufficiency, and freedom. meanwhile, we as Christians, believe the ‘good life’ should be characterized by repentance (of ourselves), dependency (on Jesus), and freedom (found in the cross).

cynicism started to flourish during the period of enlightenment, 1685-1815. the period of enlightenment was a movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism (or cynicism). this age of enlightenment prioritized reason over superstition and science over blind faith. but we do not worship a God of reason, we worship a God of love and mercy. a God who leaves the 99 to save the 1 lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14), a God who cures and heals miraculously (Matthew 10:1), a God who raises the dead (John 11:38-44), a God who cares so much for you that He sent His Son to die for you (John 3:16) knowing you may never believe in Him. Love knows no reason, mercy knows no ends, and our God is a God of love and mercy.

God gives us hope. our faith isn't placed in circumstances that are tossed left and right. no, our faith is placed on the rock, on the cornerstone, on Jesus. so, that when real situations tell you to become cynical you meet it head on with hope in your real God. cynicism and hopefulness are mutually exclusive – you can not be both.

isn’t it funny that as we see the usage of the word cynicism grow, we see the word hope decline? as we all start to get older reality sets in more and more and we lose our wonder. we lose our ability to see the good in things. we lose our trust in others. and eventually we lose our hope. cynicism is our defense that we put up as a last stand to not hurt again, because you know, if i don’t trust anyone or let anyone in to know the real me, then they can’t hurt me. but, that isn’t the life God called you to. He didn’t intricately design you for you to not be your real self. this eventually bleeds in to our relationship with our Heavenly Father. you stop being the real you with the real God. God is the one you can be yourself with. God will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8).

don’t let reality take away your God-given ability to hope. when reality is looking grim, pray. invite God’s vibrant presence into the situation. don’t live your life with no color, have hope, friends.

life is way more fun hoping, waiting expectantly for God to intervene, than it is to be skeptical about everything that is going on around you. let reality bubble up hope inside you for you know God is going to move. cancel cynicism and take back your hope.

-n0tbychance