Nougat 20

Have you noticed that with all going on around us, it’s easy to slip into negativity? Not to worry too much, for today’s Holy Nougat offers the Alternative.

“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Recently I sat with someone, and as the conversation progressed I noticed that what began as lighthearted moments, had somehow progressed into a gripe session. I also noted that it had become a trend in conversations. Hi, how are you? – Ah the burdens (and they’re listed by rank and subsections), followed by the complaints, and of course, there’s a PhD in complaints that we seek to be qualifying for. And that it wasn’t only with that person. Now that – was troubling.

You see, that’s one of the ways despair and depression creep up on us. We buy into the lie that ‘nutten naa gwaan fi mi’. And if nutten naa gwaan, we’re implying that Jesus is not working things out; and that we have separated ourselves from God’s love. The thing is, in combatting the Prosperity Gospel, people are encouraged to downplay the good God’s doing – and God is doing lots of good things around us.

Moreover, as children, many of us were encouraged against bragging and what was perceived as overconfidence. We internalized that to the extent that even as believers our response to the most mundane question is 1 ton of negativity! I recognize that some of us need attention constantly, but the perception that negative talk works, attests to the extent of the problem. However, God’s call is to be confident – in Christ, the Source of our strength and our Forever Hope.

It can’t be that we counter Negativity with Comparisons, for that encourages toxic thinking. The words in the Desiderata put it succinctly: avoid comparisons, lest we get vain or bitter; for there’s always one greater and one worse than ourselves. In reality it also reduces the temptation to diminish another for our self esteem. That is just another trick of the enemy.

If however we firmly and totally aim at fixing our hearts on Christ, we reduce the likelihood of being dragged continuously into despair.

~ So, we start (all over again and again) by learning the promises of God found in the Word.

~ We can even extend to looking at the fulfillment of the promises to assure ourselves that God’s promises are sure.

~ Having confirmed that the biblical promises are true; we turn to our own lives. Going as far as we can remember, let’s check for God-interventions in our lives

~ Beyond the shadow of a doubt, when we rehearse the times God came through, our hope gets restored. Our demeanor and even our posture will shift. Because we know in Whom we believe, and we have conviction born of experience, that since God is the same – yesterday, today, and forever; God’s promises are better than money on the stock market!

~ And, like that woman who met Jesus by the well in Samaria; we share our Living Hope with others, especially those who need a word of cheer. They/We might not think we’re ready for it; but it’s the antidote to the negativity and pain round about us.

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May all we seek be found in Christ