When the Sons of Thunder were close to
disbanding, they faced a financial crisis. During
the previous year this Christian music group
which I directed had accumulated a debt of
$5,000. Though that doesn't sound like much by
today's standards, to us young folks in 1974 it
might as well have been $5,000,000. We wracked
our brains in band meetings but couldn't figure
any way out short of bankruptcy.
Things changed
dramatically when a friend with a gift for
thinking optimistically came and gave us a pep
talk. While he didn't offer any specific
solution, he said he was certain that we had the
resources to solve this problem. He knew that
with Christ's help there were steps we could take
to do it.
That was both a
comforting and challenging thought, and it took
well with us. Our discussions took on a more
positive tone after that, and within a short time
we arrived at a plan: We would invite former band
members to join us for a farewell-reunion concert
and sell tickets. In addition, we would let
concerned friends know of our need, hoping some
would help with donations. Though only two months
remained to pull these details together, we felt
determined to give it our best.
The Lord blessed
our efforts immensely. The concert was
surprisingly successful, contributions came in,
and in the end we raised almost exactly the
amount needed to pay off our debt. While there
were many miracles to celebrate, the greatest was
that God through one optimistic friend got us
thinking hopefully and with minds of faith about our situation. We had
practically convinced ourselves that our
predicament had no solution. Once we began
thinking constructively, an answer quickly came.
I had a similar
experience several years later, when I again
benefited from the optimism of a
positive-thinking friend. Our family was living
in a townhouse, and my office was in the
basement. Because an open stairway connected the
basement and the first floor, I was often
distracted by noise from upstairs. The obvious
solution would be to install a door. Yet since
the stairway had an open, expansive design, I
couldn't think of any logical way to fit a door
into the wide space at the top or bottom of the
stairs. I'm embarrassed to admit how much time I
spent mulling the problem over, trying to come up
with a workable design. I concluded there was no
solution short of a major modification to the
stairway, which would violate the community's
architectural standards and be too expensive to
undertake.
One evening,
though, I shared my dilemma at a Bible study. A
man whom I respected for his constructive
approach to problems responded that he was sure
there would be an easy way to install a door. His
confidence inspired me, and I thought, He's
right, there must be a way to do it. The next
day it dawned on me that I could insert a door at
the landing point where the stairway turned
halfway down; since the stairwell was more
enclosed there, this was an easy modification to
make.
The solution was,
in fact, so obvious and simple that I couldn't
believe I hadn't thought of it before. I had been
locked into thinking that a door would have to be
placed at the top or bottom of the staircase.
Only when I began thinking optimistically did it
occur to me that there was another
alternative--to install it in the middle. And
this was the solution that worked.
Optimism and
Faith
It may not seem
profound to say that our attitude affects our
approach to challenges. In a general way we all
recognize this to be true. Yet most of the time
we fail to appreciate the extent to which
this is true. Our pessimism can literally shut
down our creative energy for solving a problem.
Even more typically, it channels that energy in
the wrong direction. When a problem seems
difficult, we can be incredibly clever at
convincing ourselves it has no solution. Once we
reach that conclusion, we interpret all the
evidence we see as proof we're correct--that the
problem is indeed beyond hope. Having established
that, we can overlook obvious solutions which may
be staring us in the face.
When we are able
to make that extraordinary shift to thinking
optimistically, however, it's remarkable how
quickly we sometimes find a way to remedy our
predicament. In some cases, we're astonished at
how obvious the solution actually is.
Yet reaching this
point of optimism can be no small challenge. When
faced with a difficult problem, we more typically
fall into a pessimistic manner of thinking about
it, often without realizing this is happening.
My experiences
particularly bring to mind how others' attitudes
affect our own. We are creatures of suggestion,
and we easily and unconsciously absorb the
positive or negative outlooks of those around us.
We see fascinating
examples of both types of influence occurring
throughout Scripture. It's interesting, for
instance, how frequently in Scripture individuals
manage to convince one another that a situation
is hopeless even though God sees it in a very
different light. The spies whom Moses sent to
Canaan are a classic example of how this negative
"groupthink" occurs (Num 13). Even
though God had promised that Israel would conquer
Canaan (Num 13:1), ten of the twelve spies sent
to investigate the land concluded that the
obstacles to success were simply too great. We
sense that these men, as brilliant as they were,
used their intelligence to convince each other
that the mission would be too difficult for them.
In effect they talked themselves out of faith.
A similar example
is the occasion when Jesus' disciples were in a
boat with him, desperately concerned about where
their next meal was coming from. Mark notes that
they discussed the fact that they had no bread,
and Jesus then upbraided them for their lack of
faith (Mk 8:16-21). What is striking is that the
disciples actually did have a loaf of bread with
them (v. 14); even more astounding is that they
had helped Jesus feed a crowd of thousands with
only a few loaves and fish earlier that same day
(Mk 8:1-9). They failed, though, to notice the
one loaf they had in the boat--let alone to
consider what the power of Jesus could do to
multiply it. Their discussion only served to
strengthen their pessimism about his capacity to
meet their needs.
While examples
like these abound in Scripture, there are many
positive ones as well, where one person's
optimism inspires another's. One of my favorites
is the story of Lamech and Noah. Genesis records
only one significant fact about Lamech, Noah's
father: after Noah's birth, he declared,
"[Noah] will comfort us in the labor and
painful toil of our hands caused by the ground
the LORD has cursed" (Gen 5:29 NIV). Since
this is the one notable detail the Holy Spirit
chose to record about Lamech, I assume it
describes his prevailing attitude toward his son.
Lamech apparently had an exceptionally high level
of confidence in Noah's integrity and creative
ability. He undoubtedly was one who constantly
told his son, "You can do it!"
Whatever else we
conclude about Noah, he was clearly a skilled
problem solver. His creative ingenuity was
remarkable. The logistical complexities of
building the ark and organizing its mission would
have been monumental. While God gave Noah many
instructions, there is no evidence that he
directly revealed all the details of the project
to him. It appears, rather, that he left Noah
with many problems to resolve on his own. Yet all
of the evidence suggests that he successfully
tackled each of these challenges and never
concluded that any was too difficult.
Noah certainly
benefited from his father's high expectations of
him. Lamech's conviction that his son would make
a difference helped give Noah the courage to
tackle problems which most would have thought
insurmountable.
Positive
Influences
The lesson is
clear: we desperately need the influence of
optimistic people, and those with strong, contagious faith, in our lives. In my own life
there have been so many instances, like the two
I've mentioned, where a single individual
inspired me to think hopefully about a situation
which I thought was at a dead end. While that
person may not have given me a solution to my
problem, he or she inspired enough optimism that
I was able to open my eyes and see a solution
that in some cases was only too obvious.
We need to accept how vastly influential
the power of suggestion is in our lives. As
Christian psychiatrist Paul Tournier points out
in his classic The Person Reborn, our suggestibility is not in
itself a weakness but is part of the humanity God
has put within us. Our need, Tournier notes, is
not to avoid situations which affect our
suggestible nature, but to place ourselves in
those where the most redemptive
"suggestions" occur. This is a vital
point to keep in mind as we plan our activities
with people.
Each of us will
benefit greatly from having at least one friend
who is a supreme optimist, who believes the best
for us and has a special knack for encouraging us
when our world looks bleak. It helps especially
if this person has strong faith in Christ, which
rubs off on us as well. If we don't have such a
friendship, we should pray earnestly that Christ
will provide it, and we should take what steps we
can to find it. If we have the good fortune to
gain such a friend, we should give high priority
to spending time with this person and benefiting
from his or her positive outlook.
In addition, we
should take advantage of the affirmation that
comes through more indirect means, such as books,
articles, teachers, preachers and media
personalities.
Last, but far from
least, we need to structure our daily devotional
time in a way that allows Christ to breathe his
optimism and encouragement into our life. Yes, we
need to study the whole of Scripture and focus on
both the love and justice of God. Yet we should
give emphasis to the triumphant themes of
Scripture: God's grace, which is greater than our
sin; his adequacy, which is more powerful than
our inadequacy; his guidance, which overrules our
confusion and waywardness. It helps especially to
spend time in silent reflection, dwelling on
God's goodness and recounting his blessings in
our life. It is worth letting more busy aspects
of our quiet time go in order for this to happen.
Each of us needs a
heavy and frequent dose of optimism. Keeping our
hearts cheerful and hopeful is not just good
stress management but foundational to faith in
Christ. I'm certain it's a vital part of the good
soil which Christ speaks of in the parable of the
sower, which gives harvest to the seed of faith
(Mt 13:3-9).
We must simply
keep in mind the role others play in keeping the
soil fertile. Here the truth of the ancient adage
always applies: "Choose your friends
wisely."
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