The Eeyore Syndrome

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”  Frances Hodgson Burnett

  Eeyore, (from Winnie the Pooh) the old grey donkey, stood by the stream, and looked at himself in the water. “Pathetic,” Eeyore said. “That’s what it is, pathetic.” He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back to the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again. “As I thought,” he said. “No better from this side…Pathetic, that’s what it is.”

  This world is filled with Eeyores. Those who are chronically pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, the glass is half empty people. Churches are filled with Eeyores. Chronically negative individuals infected with The Eeyore Syndrome. Someone with The Eeyore Syndrome is: habitually critical, petty, sad, melancholy, gloomy etc., for more days than not. They’re over concerned with their problems, no matter how small and have a round the clock “poor me” attitude. They can find a little black rain cloud on a sun-drenched day. They find joy in being miserable or being the emissaries of bad news. Often those with Eeyore Syndrome claim they’re only realists. And they might be, if this world was all there is…but it’s not!

  While God has not called us to have our heads in the clouds or to park our brains and common sense at the door, it’s a sin to be a pessimist. We’re also not called to be a Winnie the Pooh where life is simple and the next honey jar is just around the corner. What God has called us as Christians to be are Sanctified Optimists!

  A pessimist believes Satan is in charge, that this is his world and he’s in control. There is nothing good because Satan is so bad. Then, a realist believes only in what they can see. They’re facts and figures individuals. Life for them is limited to the world of the empirical.

  Yet, God has called us, as those who live by faith, to be Sanctified Optimists. Why? Because Satan is a trespasser. This really is my Father’s world. While it may not appear to be the case, Jesus is King, though He’s not yet taken back His throne. We must be Sanctified Optimists to obey Scripture and have the “mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5). Sadly, we’ve succumbed to Satan’s reign, domain and worldview when…

  We continually think and expect the worst. We’re so negative we can even take a positive situation and turn it into a negative. We talk ourselves into misery, gloom and doom. Basically, if we want to bad enough, we can find something negative about anything and everything…and many do.  

  We turn being negative into a positive thing. We justify our negative attitude. “This way I’m not disappointed when something bad happens.” We rationalize it’s self-protection. Actually, it’s negativity disguised as wisdom. No matter how we camouflage it, it’s a lack of faith in God and His goodness. The bottom line is we see and focus on what we’re looking for. We either continually see Satan at work or we see the Savior at work.

  And it’s true, there is a lot of Satan’s work, there is so much evil in this world. Yet, when we focus primarily on Satan’s work, we act as if this is his world and he’s in charge. He’s not! He’s a conquered foe. Jesus crushed his head on the Cross (Genesis 3:15). Yet, most of us, even those of us who are the people of faith, primarily only see and think about Satan’s actions and work. No wonder we’re depressed, melancholic and pessimistic.

  I’m convinced we must by the power of the Spirit in faith proactively look for Jesus and His working in this world. It must be our focus. It needs to be our mental diet. While it is not natural, it is supernatural. And when we do this, it’s so freeing. We’re obedient to Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Our mental diet is not to be on Satan’s work, but God’s work and world.

  When we begin to look for Jesus we’re more attentive to common grace. So when someone is honest or kind or thoughtful, even if they’re a pagan, even if they’re an atheist – is that of Satan or of Jesus? It’s of Jesus, even if they don’t realize it or are opposed to Him. It’s the fulfillment of James 1:17 in everyday life, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” Sanctified Optimism means we begin to notice Jesus is in control and working in this world. It means we acknowledge and thank Him for working in our world, even when a lost world doesn’t have a clue it is doing His bidding.

  When we begin to look for Jesus we’re more attentive to divine grace. It changes our prayer life. We pray in faith, knowing nothing is too hard for God (Luke 1:17). We’re not foolish, yet set aside cynicism. We stop limiting God or putting Him in our box of doubt.

  The Bible is a case history of Sanctified Optimism. It literally overflows with Sanctified Optimism. A favorite of mine is when Jesus met Peter and said to him, “You are Simon son of John. You shall be called Cephas—which translated is Peter [Stone].” Peter went from sand to stone in the hands of Jesus. It’s the Sanctified Optimism of Jesus.

  Many of us were Peters prior to coming to Christ. No one would have ever imagined how God in His grace would revolutionize our lives. Each of us has several Peters or Peterettes in our own lives. It’s frequently the person you think is least likely to ever come to Christ. But are you praying in faith they will? Are you praying for God to work and intervene? You may be praying for the next Paul?

  Those with The Eeyore Syndrome hardly pray, if at all. Why would they? They don’t believe it makes any difference. Yet, people of faith, those with a biblical worldview and Sanctified Optimism are people of prayer. 

  Do you need to change who you see? Does your prayer life need to radically change? Maybe you should start with, “Lord, help me to stop just seeing Satan at work and begin seeing Jesus working in this fallen world. Help me to grow and have more Jesus’ moments.” 

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