Do you think life will be better tomorrow or do you think it will be worse?   Do you justify your lack of hope by defining yourself as a ‘realist’?  Do you find yourself lowering your expectations so that you will not be disappointed?   Was it worth it?  Aren’t you really just anticipating disappointment and spreading it around so it will be easier to take…exposing yourself to it in advance so you won’t be hit all at once?

What’s the difference between a realist and a pessimist?  Can a Christian be a pessimist?  I think we know the answer to that because we occasionally see it in our own hearts.  We all struggle with attacks against our hope that things will be ok.  Life hits hard and often.  It can blind us to the goodness and love of God.

The reality of our lives is twofold.  We live in a fallen, sinful world and at the same time we live in Christ, at the right hand of God, high above every evil thing.  Every day we are given a choice as to which reality we will walk in.  Will I struggle with hope and joy because everything around me is going to hell in a hand-basket?   Will I assume and even expect the worst?  Or will I live the new life I was born into?  A life that is filled with hope and grace, power and love.

Paul the apostle writes that we are to “walk by faith, not by sight” – 2Cor 5:7.  The journey of today, the walk we are on “now” is by faith.  We are instructed to live our lives 24/7 by faith, by what we believe and know to be true, and not by what we see.  The natural world is filled with disappointment and lies.  The Kingdom of Heaven, our true world, is filled with faith, hope and love.  The author of the Book of Hebrews writes that “faith is the substance of things hoped for”.  Faith for today, hope for tomorrow.   The struggles of today are approached by faith, the struggles of tomorrow are approached by hope.  Hope in Christ gives us a reason to live for tomorrow, faith in Christ gives us the power to live for today.