Hope Beyond Optimism
“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.” Psalm 107:43
It is an age-old question: Do you see the glass as half-full or half-empty?
We usually treat the answer as a reflection of personality. The person who notices what remains is called an optimist. The person who notices what is missing is called a pessimist.
But I have come to believe the question is more complicated than that.
If I handed you a sixteen-ounce glass containing eight ounces of water, what would you see? Would you call it half-full or half-empty?
My answer is both.
The glass contains eight ounces of refreshing, life-giving water, but it also contains eight ounces of empty space. Both realities exist at the same time.
Acknowledging the emptiness is not pessimism, and pretending it is not there is not optimism.
For much of my early life, I never thought about whether the glass was half-full or half-empty. I was simply taking the next step in front of me and doing what needed to be done. It was only as I came to know and trust Jesus that I began to see my life differently, not because the empty places disappeared, but because I learned they were never the whole story.
Holding Grief and Hope
During college, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, beginning a decades-long journey marked by chronic pain, surgeries, and treatments. Eventually, the disease caused so much damage that my doctors recommended a hysterectomy. Although God had already blessed us with two miracle children after I had once been told I would likely never have them, I still grieved the permanent loss that surgery represented. At the same time, I hoped it might bring relief.
The grief was real, and the hope was real.
God was faithfully present in both.
That experience helped me understand something I would continue learning in the years that followed: walking with Jesus does not require us to choose between grief and hope. Because of Him, we can honestly hold both.
A Different Kind of Hope
The world often tells us to remain optimistic because tomorrow may be better. Biblical hope offers something deeper.
Optimism often depends on believing our circumstances will improve. Biblical hope rests in knowing God is good, even when tomorrow is uncertain.
The Bible never asks us to deny suffering. Instead, it teaches us where to look while we suffer. It makes room for joy and grief, gratitude and disappointment, beauty and pain, hope and uncertainty.
Faith does not require us to ignore the empty places. It reminds us they are not the whole story because our hope is not rooted in favorable circumstances. It is rooted in the character of God.
He is faithful, present, and merciful.
He is working even when we cannot yet see what He is doing.
This is the kind of hope we find throughout Psalm 107.
Then They Cried to the Lord
Psalm 107 tells of people who wandered in the wilderness, sat imprisoned in darkness, suffered because of foolish choices, and feared for their lives in violent storms. Different people faced different circumstances and different kinds of suffering. Yet four times, the same words appear:
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.”
Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28That repeated refrain is not accidental.
It reminds us that the answer to wandering, darkness, regret, and fear is not simply to become more positive. It is to cry out to the Lord.
Psalm 107 never minimizes what these people endured. The wanderers were truly lost. The prisoners were truly trapped. The sailors were truly afraid. But their suffering was never the only truth present.
God was present in every circumstance.
The verses do not direct our attention away from hardship. They direct our attention toward the steadfast love of the God who meets us within it.
Learning to See His Faithfulness
Looking back, I can remember everything disease took from me. But I can also remember what God faithfully provided: strength for another day, compassionate doctors, a husband who walked beside me, the miracle of two children, His Word, His presence, and His grace. My circumstances had not always changed, but my perspective had. I was learning to view my life not only by what I had lost, but by the faithfulness of God that had sustained me.
This is not merely a comforting spiritual idea. Modern research continues to show that hope and optimism affect our physical well-being. While science can observe these benefits, Scripture tells us where lasting hope is found: not in positive thinking, but in Christ.
Hope Has a Name
Jesus once stood before a crowd and said:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
John 7:37What a beautiful invitation.
He does not promise that every storm will immediately cease or that every disease will disappear. He offers Himself.
That is the foundation of Christian hope.
As we walk with Jesus, our perspective begins to change. We discover that our lives have meaning beyond comfort, recognition, success, and the aspirations the world places before us. We begin to see others as fellow image-bearers instead of obstacles or competitors. We learn that even suffering is not wasted when it draws us closer to Christ and shapes us more fully into His likeness.
Our hope is not found in convincing ourselves that the glass is fuller than it appears.
Our hope is found in the One who fills us with His presence.
Consider the Steadfast Love of the Lord
“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”
Psalm 107:43Consider His steadfast love. Not only when life feels full. Not only after the storm has passed. Not only when healing comes.
Today.
Perhaps your story looks different from mine. Maybe your struggle is grief, financial uncertainty, a broken relationship, or an anxious heart.
Whatever feels empty today, do not miss the evidence of God’s steadfast love within your story.
The question was never simply whether the glass was half-full or half-empty. The deeper question has always been where our hope rests.
If my hope rests in circumstances, the glass will seem empty again and again. But if my hope rests in Christ, I can grieve honestly while living with hope. His steadfast love never ceases, and He remains faithful in every season. Whatever feels empty today, consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
