It’s a tough time in our world – chaotic, confusing, and disheartening. It’s easy to get negative and cynical, and definitely easy to question God and His plan for us.

Generally, I’m someone who has a positive attitude, and I do my best to see all sides of an issue, or try to understand another’s point-of-view before I shoot my mouth off (I’m not always successful in this!). But lately, that’s been difficult to do, especially with the erupting anger and unrest right now. That anger blinds us to all sides of the issues we’re facing.

Is there a solution?

For me, I’ve turned off the news and opened my Bible. I’m reading in Psalms, which is perfect for time likes these. There are Psalms of lament, of being frustrated, and even angry at God. And guess what? It’s okay to be angry at God, to ask questions and wonder what the heck He’s doing. He can take that.

But there are also many Psalms of hope, and that’s what I’m clinging to these days.

I think we need to look for the good that’s around us. The cyclone of negativity is strong right now, and you can all too easily get swept up in it. Pretty soon, all you’ll see is the bad and the negative side of things. You can forget to see the good.

Is constantly looking for the good a silly attitude to have in the face of real-world problems? Perhaps. But to me, attitude has always been half the battle.

Your attitude can determine what your entire day looks like. If we’re caught in the continuing cycle of negativity, then we fail to see the good stuff. We fail to see God’s presence. However, if we try to be positive and have hope, then the lens in which we’re viewing the world can change.

And maybe our positive attitude, and our spirit of hope, can change our little corner of the globe.

Now, if you think I’m not seeing the real world, that I’m only looking through rose-colored glasses, don’t be fooled. I definitely have my down days – my days of lamenting, like so many writers in the book of Psalms. I’ll shake my head and not understand the division among us. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t have faith. I still believe God is working through all of this mess. I believe that we’ll come out of this, and that we’ll be stronger together, instead of tearing each other apart.

In the long run, I have faith. That’s the hope I have to have, the positive attitude that I think is worth sharing.

So, for today, I choose hope.