I, for one, remain relentlessly hopeful

A few months back, after having had about all he could take, my husband looked at me from across the dining room table and said in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Why do you insist on being so relentlessly pessimistic?"

It had been "one of those days." The reality of the sinking economy, the ups and downs of the election, and some upsetting news about a friend had hit me all at once. So there at the table I let all the feelings of the day get the best of me, which took the form of contradicting just about every hopeful thing my poor husband was trying to say.

It wasn't until the next day that I came to grips with what was really going on inside of me. My husband, God help me, was right. (He's going to love hearing that!) Only I wouldn't call it "pessimism"--rather, I would say that I had lost my hope in God.

I don't blame myself for feeling down about all that's going on in this country right now. There's plenty to be depressed about. But I have everything to lose if I succumb to the feelings and forget the fact that Jesus has already conquered the darkness of this world. We are not waiting for the war against evil to be won--it has already been accomplished.

And so I, for one, choose to remain relentlessly hopeful in Jesus. HOPE is not a feeling--it is a person, and this person is God made flesh for the sake of our salvation. He is in charge of this mess we call "life on earth," and as crazy as it gets, He has a plan for it all.