You know who he is. Eeyore, the stuffed donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh; the loveable depressed eternal pessimist.
Eeyore prepared himself for the worst, and never expected anything good. I think many of us can identify with him. How many times can we be disappointed or hurt before we start bracing ourselves for impact? Before we talk ourselves out of being excited for something, just in case it doesn’t pan out like we hope? Before we stop trusting others not to let us down?
I find myself constantly fighting negativity, so this topic is especially close to my heart. Most of the time I feel good and happy and fine, but as soon as something disappointing happens, I’m thrown into a cycle of self-doubt, negativity, and discouragement. If I’m not careful, I give into the emotion and close myself off to everyone around me.
Philippians 4:6 says “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (NLT). I think of this verse every time I find myself in despair, and think of how simple the concept is, but how difficult it is to actually practice. How do you pull your focus from your troubles? How do you give everything to God? What if He lets you down too?
This is a fundamental point of faith. It brings into question things you may say all the time, like “God is good,” but don’t know if you truly believe. Giving your worry to God means you must trust him implicitly to take care of you, and to not let you down.
Where do you find your hope? Where do you find the courage to really, truly, give up control and leave your worry and fear at the cross?
By Robyn Roste
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