As believers, our optimism is based firmly on reality and what is true

The best and the most perfect gift any of us has ever received, hands down and without a doubt, is Jesus! In Colossians 1:16-17 Paul says,

“For through him God created everything
    in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see —
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
    and he holds all creation together.”

Randy Alcorn once wrote, “If everything that comes into our lives is Father-filtered, how can we be anything less than optimistic? Our optimism is based squarely on realism: Jesus is real … atonement is real … Christ’s resurrection is real … heaven is real … and the gospel really is “good news.”

Another hero of the faith, Joni Eareckson Tada said, “It is a glorious thing to know that your Father God makes no mistakes in directing or permitting that which crosses the path of your life. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is our glory to trust Him … not matter what.”