Don’t Fear the Bad News - Martin Wiles

They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. Psalm 112:7 NLT

The news disturbed me, but at least a friend delivered it.

The delivery came by way of voice mail. “Your wife and daughter have been in an accident, but they don’t have any life-threatening injuries.”

My heart pounded as I made the two-hour drive from where I was to the hospital. With no other details to go other than the voice mail, my mind played tricks imagining what might have happened. Fortunately, my daughter suffered nothing more than bent glasses. My wife didn’t fare so well. She broke her ankle and ended up with a cast on her leg. She also broke her wrist and had to undergo surgery.

For the next eight weeks, our lives changed. Hers because she could do nothing on her own short of holding a book or changing channels on the television with a remote. Mine as well. I had to clean the house, cook the meals, and wash the clothes. But we didn’t let fear of what might be—or what had been—destroy our peace or joy.

According to the psalmist, those who reverence the Lord will experience joy in life. Out of that joy will flow obedience to God’s commands, compassion, generosity, holy living, honesty, and success. When bad news arrives—and it will—it will not overcome them.

Bad news is only bad if the only hope I have lies in continuous pleasant circumstances. And life quickly teaches that bad news will come … sometimes often … and that circumstances won’t always be enjoyable.

Fear, however, isn’t from God because perfect love, which God has and can give to me, does away with unfounded fear.

Bad news won’t destroy when we keep our perspective that someone greater than us, God, controls the news and the circumstances that led to it. When we express our trust in Him when the bad news comes, our faith will grow. God may not be directly responsible for the circumstances that led to the bad news, but He at least allows them.

When bad news comes your way, keep your focus on the One who controls the circumstances that led to the bad news. He will bring you through.

Prayer: Father, when the news is bad, we trust You to give us the wisdom and strength to endure.

Tweetable: Do you fear bad news? 

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