Cynicism and Hope

I'm a firm believer that God can use any situation to bring Himself glory.  He can use anything for the good of those who love Him.  That's not to say it's going to be easy, not in the slightest.  If anything it will be harder and the situations seemingly insurmountable.  There is so much suffering in the world over, hunger and famine, war, preventable illnesses that cause millions of deaths in children under 5 and so on and so forth.

God is faithful in it all.  He is able to see how He's going to use things in the long term for His glory and His people.  We are so quick as humans to see suffering as evidence that there is no God.  We have such a small sense of history though.  We want God to move in our lives and in the world right now and how we want.

It usually doesn't happen that way though.  The Israelites spent 400 years in slavery before being set free.  And then they had another 40 years of wandering around a desert.  It's so tempting to give up in light of all the suffering and atrocities in the world.  For me it's even more tempting and easier to become cynical about it all.

What if there is a better way though?  I read a blog the other day that was talking about Lent and different things people give up.  She mentioned that many people give up meat, others give up social media and then she suggested the thing that cut to my heart.  She suggested trying to give up cynicism and replacing it with compassion and joy.

As a result this past week I've tried to become much more conscious about when I'm being cynical.  I'm trying to replace it with hope as that seems to be the opposite of cynicism in my view.  There are times where I feel like I'm making a little progress, but it is still so difficult.

It's not a matter of replacing cynicism with a false type of hope, something akin to positive thinking and nonsense.  Well, positive thinking and self help do get a bad rap sometimes.  Maybe that's misplaced though.  There's a difference between positive thinking resulting from a naivete that results in sticking one's head in the sand and positive thinking resulting from a realistic perspective that God is sovereign.  

In the Psalms David does a form of positive self-talk.  He asks himself, "Why are you downcast oh my soul?  Put your hope in God."  We are encouraged in Philippians to take every thought captive, another form of positive thinking.  I don't see how positive thinking is supposed to work outside of a belief system in Christ.

What exactly does one put their hope and positively think about if it isn't focused on Christ and His love?  Some people put their hope in themselves.  I've failed enough to know that doesn't work for very long.  Maybe others are self-delusional enough to think they can put their hope in themselves and neglect to remember all the times they've let themselves and their loved ones down.

I can get bogged down by my own struggles or by the struggles of people I know.  During these times, it's vital to follow David's advice and put my hope in God.  It's certainly easier said than done, though, isn't it?