Topic: Why Hope Isn’t the Same as Optimism [RICK WARREN Devotional 3 July 2024]
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Why Hope Isn’t the Same as Optimism
BY RICK WARREN — JULY 3, 2024
FROM HOW GOD MEETS YOUR DEEPEST NEEDS
“We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Romans 8:28 (NLT)
Life often brings you matters that are difficult to swallow, like a sickness, a job loss, or the death of a friend or family member. Those pills are bitter going down, and we often choke on them.
But you can rest assured that God is up to something good in your life, even if you can’t see it. God is actively working to bring good out of whatever happens in or around you. To hold on to hope in the midst of tough times, you’ll need to grab hold of this truth.
The Bible says it this way: “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT).
The Bible isn’t saying that every event in your life will be good. You and I both know that’s just not true. But it does say that when you put your whole life together, every piece of it works together for good. It’s like making a cake. You may not like the taste of each ingredient, but when it’s all put together, you can’t resist it. God wants to bake an amazingly tasty cake with your life, and he wants to use even the distasteful and bitter elements to do it.
God doesn’t promise that everything will work together like you want it to or that every story will have a happy ending. The reality is that not every business decision will make you a million dollars. Not every couple that gets married will live happily ever after. Not every child will become captain of the football team.
Instead, the verse reminds us that we can have absolute confidence that the Master Designer of the universe “causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.” (Notice that this promise is for “those who love God,” not for people who don’t know God yet.)
Hope isn’t the same as optimism. It isn’t the belief that something bad will turn out well. It’s the absolute confidence that every part of your life ultimately will make sense, regardless of how it turns out this side of eternity.
From our vantage point, life looks like a mess at times. But God’s view from heaven isn’t the same as ours.
You can’t even imagine the good that God has in store for your future. God promises, “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NCV).
Your future is in God’s hands—and there’s no better place for it to be.
Talk It Over
- How have you seen God work a bad experience out for your good or for the good of someone you know?
- How is Jesus’ death on the cross an example of God working out good in a bad situation?
- Think of your life like a cake. What “ingredient” from that cake tastes bitter right now? Spend a few minutes asking God to help you trust him to bring good—a beautiful, tasty cake—even out of the bitter ingredients.
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