Optimistic Jesus, Are you?

 “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” -Winston Churchill

Jesus in this way is an optimist and he invites us to be the same. Ephesians 3:20 gives us the reason for such optimism; simply put, God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” 

This verse is a dramatic statement. We as creative humans are pretty good at looking around us and finding something new to want or experience, there is no shortage of longing for more. Wanting more is not my problem, sometimes I find myself caught in this space where I want something, I can even picture myself enjoying it, but don’t really have any legitimate way of acquiring said thing, so it stays just there, I leave it at that, a want, a dream, a what if. Most of the time I move on and completely forget about the item or experience. This is called contentment, leaving things behind that don’t belong to us as we journey forward with Jesus. But is this how we should handle our spiritual aspirations?

All too often I come to Scriptural promises with this same attitude; sure it says that 'Jesus came to give life in abundance' but is that for me? Maybe I’ll conjure up an image of what I believe abundant life to look like (a life full of joy, courage, risk, reward and genuine meaning and impact). But the question is close at hand even as I dream, 'Is that promise for me?' I often will clearly see the vision of what could be but quickly become overwhelmed by the mountain that seems to lead me there. The trail is dark and unclear, I don’t even know if I could get there if I tried. The sacrifices are too real the possibility too small.

And so, I often pocket dreams of the life that could be, the life of untouchable joy and unshakable peace. The life of embodying Jesus through selfless love and justice which leads to the richest satisfaction. I put it on the shelf because I doubt it really could be mine. The realness of the now and the faintness of what could be force me into a vile twisting of contentment. Apathy. 

The words of Paul assault this apathetic posture by stating firstly, Our optimism about our life should not be bound to what we can imagine or envision, much less the path to get there. We have a very limited ability to see clearly all that God has planned for us, but He can see. And His vision for you is far greater than you can imagine. Read Ephesians 3:20 again if you need to. God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” 

Secondly, when we dream about our spiritual future our dreams should not be tethered to our limited strength. We should not be hedging our spiritual goals and aspirations with easily met goals. I am all for small achievable goal setting, but what I mean is this, when it comes to spiritual possibilities we are not primarily working with our strength, we are working with the “power [that is] at work within us.” 

This power is the same power exuded when Jesus was raised from the dead. This power is resurrection power. This power is one that goes where all hope is lost and enlivens life. This power is the power that goes to the cold places that are locked off to all others because of the death within and warms that place with new life.

This power is at work within you and I. Working to do far above what we could imagine or ask for.

            TRUTH

What area do you want to see that power move, change or enliven this year?

                 What is your #1 Spiritual goal this year?

Don’t keep your goal private share it, talk about, it pray for it.

*If you are reading this together with others in your community please take a moment to practice the following expression of shared faith.

What is everyone’s personal Goal for the coming year and what is everyone’s spiritual goal for the coming year?

Spend a few minutes praying for each other and these goals.