Bad news is lurking in every corner. Always has been. Always will. For you. For me. For everyone. Especially, it seems, in the 21st Century’s technology-driven and media-fueled circus.
One of the biggest barriers to listening for God’s voice is our fear of hearing “BAD NEWS.”
My fight to win the bad-news battle starts with a commitment to LISTEN for God through both good and bad news. When good news appears, I praise him. When bad news shows up in its costume of darkness, I fast-forward to his assurance that he is watching and in control. Then I move to Psalm 112 and focus on TRUSTING him no matter the circumstances.
“He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” Psalm 112:7
We must remember that God’s truth has not changed just because the world is turning up the “bad-news noise.” The issue is not if the noise will chase us—it will—but if we allow God to turn it down and then off.
God is telling us that we need to tune out the world’s noise and LISTEN to him. I know, that’s tough because we have become accustomed to bad news in our connected, news-feed world. That’s the external. But then there’s the internal “bad news battle” we have with ourselves over health and relationships and finances and, well, life.
The first step in battling bad news is to understand life’s UNCERTAINTY and then grab God’s strength that comes from TRUSTING him. And the only way to trust God is to KNOW him. And the only way to know him is implanting his Word in our mind and heart.
There is no pretending here that nothing bad can happen to us. It just means we have accepted: 1) Life’s REALITY that is immutable; and 2) God’s love that cannot, ever, be destroyed by bad news (John 16:33).
Yes, the bad news of life will come. That’s why God wants us anchored to him when it arrives. We do that by trusting him even as bad news rages around us and believing to our core that he will keep us steady and safe and protected in his righteous love (Isaiah 54:10).
I ask God to strengthen me to fight off my natural propensity to react poorly to bad news and, instead, immediately focus on his promises found in Psalm 112.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What’s your BAD-NEWS RESPONSE score–Poor…Fair…Good…Great? What can you do to improve it? HINT: Trusting God through the bad news of life comes from KNOWING him and the only way to know him is implanting his Word in your mind and heart.
“They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.” Psalm 112:7-8
