An Optimistic Year!

2020 is over and I think it’s safe to stay that last year has been one heck of a ride. 2019 end of year sermons declared that 2020 would be the year of perfection vision. I wonder if those who professed this over 2020 were actually speaking this as a prophetic word from God or if they were merely speaking this as a play on the numerical structure of the year or saying it to be cliche. Either way, 2020 has shown us things that we have never seen before and hope to never see again. All of 2020 i’ve heard people say things like, “throw the whole year away,” “I can’t wait until 2021 comes,” or “this is the worse year ever.” I can honestly understand and empathize with their sentiments. However, each time I heard those statements or read them on my social media timeline I honestly felt differently. Despite all that was going on all around us in the form of racial injustice, the invisible villain of COVID-19, food insecurity, the rise in domestic and child abuse (these were a prayer burden for me during the year) and the lack of real leadership from our government officials both on the local and national level, for some reason optimism and positivity always took the front seat.

Now, for those of you who will say, “well you’re just a person who always see’s the glass as half full that’s why you felt that way.” I can tell you and those who are close to me can agree with me when I say that that is a lie. Naturally, I am someone who is the complete opposite. I’m not calling myself Negative Nancy or a pessimist, but I do prefer to state the unfiltered truth and then follow it up with optimism. I blame that on me being a Nurse. I’m going to tell you what I see, but I’m also going to give you hope in the midst of it. I felt it strange for me to continually throughout the year to view it as more of a blessing than a curse. I, like most people, have suffered some great losses, heartbreak and challenges during the year but even despite those obstacles, my first response was optimism. Truthfully speaking, I think this is what God used to keep me sane and pushing forward throughout the year.

Sometimes, doing what is out of the ordinary for us will seem a bit weird and uncomfortable and in my case unexplainable. I didn’t make the conscious decision to be optimistic, it just happened. As you are faced with difficult situations, closed doors and dead end streets this year I challenge you to make the conscious decision to choose optimism first, even if optimism doesn’t come naturally to you. The Bible teaches us over and over again that what we speak can bring life or death. I’ve been taught that when something is stated over and over again in scripture that God really wants us to firmly grasp hold of what He’s saying. So, choose life. Choose positivity. Choose freedom from negative thinking this year. When your faith seems to fail and your view on life is dark and dreary (because it will happen because we are all human) do as I do and recite this portion of scripture as many times as you need to bring you solace, “…Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24 NKJV

AMG