Pessimism

Pessimism is defined: “an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome.” Lots of people take the pessimistic approach to life and it brings them misery.

Pessimism makes problems as bad as they can be: minor illnesses become life-threatening diseases; financial difficulties become financial ruin; a disagreement with a friend becomes a relationship-destroying catastrophe, and so on. We do have problems in life, but how often to those problems really end up being major issues in our lives?

Pessimism makes us assume the worst in unknown situations: a phone call late at night must be bad news; a message from the boss must mean I’m being fired. Many people burden themselves with anxiety over these kinds of situations even before they get all of the information.

Christians should try to throw off the shackles of pessimism. Living this way is not in harmony with the abundant life Jesus came to give to His followers (John 10:10). Actually, I think pessimism is nothing but a manifestation of fear. We are so afraid of the bad things that might happen that we allow those thoughts to consume us. Then we begin to see evidence of these terrible things all around us.

What is the answer, then? Paul said, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Fearfulness is spiritually paralyzing. How can we face the devil’s attacks if we have a fearful attitude toward everything in life? How can we give an answer to those who ask if fear controls our thinking? How can we survive trials of faith if we assume the worst is always going to happen? No wonder the fearful are listed among those who will have a place in the second death (Revelation 21:8)!

John said, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). We have no need to be afraid of God when we are children of God. The more we realize this and come to love Him, the less we should be motivated by fear of Him. In the same way, the more we come to love God, the more we will trust God’s love for us. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us, and so there is no need to be controlled by fear (Hebrews 13:5-6).

So let’s try to learn to love God and trust Him to keep His word. Yes, life will have plenty of setbacks for us; but God has promised to be with us, to strengthen us, and to help us overcome. The more we can trust in this, the less we should be controlled by pessimism.