Optimism

Theme: Optimism

Text: I Samuel 17: 1-58

Place: FBC Kodiak, Alaska

Date: January 8, 2k6

Intro:

Illus: a man lost a leg in an accident and when he was picked up and discover what

had actually happened, he said to those around him, “Thank God it was the

leg with arthritis.” –copied (unknown)

What is optimism? The doctrine or belief that good ultimately prevails over evil.

Tendency to expect the best outcome.

What is pessimism? The doctrine or belief that the evil in life outweighs the good.

Practice of looking on the dark side of things

Illus: “The optimist recognizes a responsibility in every crisis; the pessimist sees a

crisis in every responsibility.” – copied

Focus: Ingredients for Optimism

I. Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. (vv 23; 26; 28-33)

- Do not allow negative comments to discourage you.

Illus: “The pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds and moans; the

philosopher sees both dark and bright side of the clouds; and the

optimist doesn’t even see the clouds – he’s walking on them.”

– Leslie B. Flynn

David din not allow people to rob him of his faith and destiny through their

negative comments. His elder brother was angry and wished that David had

remained with the sheep. He accused him of pride and wickedness. Even

King Saul discourage him by saying that he would not be able to defeat

Goliath. David did not allow people to rob him of his destiny through their

unbelief, doubt, jealousy and negative comments.

We should not allow other people to rob our blessings through their unbelief, jealousy and negative words. We should ignore the negative voices and press on to fulfill our destiny. We cannot expect everyone to rejoice in our progress and prosperity nor can we expect everyone to believe in our vision and potential. Just as David faced Goliath without any encouragement from people, we should be willing to face our challenges alone with our faith in God and get the victory.

II. Be a man who undertakes a seemingly impossible task in a spirit of

A. Unbounded determination. (v. 11)

Meaning … uncontrolled firmness of purpose.

David’s courage was amazing when he faced Goliath. The entire Israeli

army including Saul was terrified of Goliath. Even when he was

surrounded by fearful people. David stood out with his fearlessness.

Nothing including Goliath’s appearance, strength, armor, experience or

threats could make him afraid.

We should be bold and fearless when we face our Goliaths. None of those who were afraid of Goliath were able to defeat him. The only one who was able to defeat Goliath was the one who had no fear of him. Therefore we should be absolutely fearless when we face our challenges in order to get the victory.

B. Unbelievable Excitement (vv. 23- 27)

There was absolutely no doubt in David’s mind about the outcome of the

battle. In fact the first words that David spoke after seeing and hearing

Goliath was to find out what reward he would get if he killed Goliath. David

saw Goliath as a great opportunity to get rewards in his life. He did not think

of Goliath as a danger threatening to destroy his life but as a golden

opportunity to receive great blessings in his life.

We should be strong in faith expecting the victory in our battles. We should not allow doubt and unbelief to rob us of our victory and destiny. We should consider our challenges as blessings in disguise. We should look forward to the blessings that we would receive as a result of overcoming these challenges instead of losing hope and getting discouraged when we face trials in our life.

C. Indestructible Confidence with God. (vv. 33- 37)

illus: When Goliath went to the Israelites the soldiers all thought, “He so

big, we can never kill him.” But David looked at him and thought,

“He is so big, I can’t miss.” –copied (unknown)

David confessed God’s faithfulness both in the past and also in the

present situation. He remembered the past battles he faced in which

God had delivered him and it inspired his faith to believe God to give

him the victory on this current battle with the giant. He did not speak

a single word of doubt or unbelief when he faced Goliath. All his

words were positive and filled with faith and confidence.

In our lives we should constantly speak positive words of victory in the challenges that we face. We should totally avoid speaking negative words of doubt, fear, unbelief and defeat when we face our battles. We should remember all the victories that the Lord has given us in the past and be strong in our faith that the Lord will do the same even in our current battle.