Peace and Optimism and Hope

In John 14:27, Jesus says:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

1 Peter 1:3 says:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …

Dave Edling says:

The biblical term ‘hope’ is NOT the ‘wishful thinking’ of the world. Hope is the confident expectation of future blessing based on the facts and promises of God’s Word. The term ‘living hope’ indicates the undying, permanent nature of this hope.

Ed Welch says:

“Worriers are visionaries minus the optimism.”
“Take a sabbatical from worry.”

And to that, I say Amen! And goodnight. (And thanks for all of the prayers and notes of encouragement. You can’t believe how mortifying it is to share my freaking out, yet again, on this blog. But it would be unbearably hypocritical to only show you the good days. What a waste and a sham that would be.)