The Good News In The Bad News

The news this week has been terrifyingly awful. The headlines pop up on my phone and lately it's felt like a constant barrage of bad news. Rape, murder, kidnapping, children found hanged, shootings, terror, corruption, racism, deceitfulness, hurricanes, droughts and all round hopelessness.

These are some truths that keep me in the midst of the storm:

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

• God is not surprised by the trouble of this world— not to say that he doesn't care, he does, deeply. But all this bad news is the product of living in a broken, sinful world. I don't say that to cheapen the pain and destruction and desperation that people are facing today. It so breaks my heart to witness— how much more the heart of God who knows and sees all, even in the darkest places.
• However, the brokenness and darkness is not too big for Jesus. He overcame it all.
• That doesn't take away the pain and consequences, but it does enable us to take heart and stand in the storm, with the hope of Jesus' victory anchoring our souls and keeping us firm and secure in him (Hebrews 6:19).

"When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm." - Psalm 75:3

• The world is currently being shaken to its core. I don't think there is a single person out there who can even pretend that all is peachy with our world right now.
• But in the midst of the quaking and shaking and breaking, our God holds firm. He is not shaken. He is still on the throne. He is still the foundation and cornerstone on which we stand. 
• And when we keep our eyes always on the Lord and believe that he is always with us, we too will not be shaken (Psalm 16:8).

"The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:5-7

• The Lord, the God of peace, is near. He is not far off, he is not disinterested, he is not unaffected by our pain and anger and broken hearts. He hears our cries and knows our suffering (Exodus 3:7).
• So let us cry out more and more to our God. Before we post the angry status or go off in a rage in response to the next inevitable heart-breaking headline, let us bring it to God. In every situation, without ceasing, with thankfulness, let us pray. 
• Not to say that we passively sit back and watch the world burn. No, let us pray AND let us rise up and show mercy, and love, and give, and instigate change in the spaces around us. 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

• In the midst of the brokenness, we have to choose to believe that this true. That our God will bring beauty from pain. That he will take the mess and create a masterpiece. That he still has plans for each one of us that are full of hope, that he is still writing our stories, that he is still good.

Let us lift our eyes to our God, where our help comes from. Let us cling to his truth and cry out to him. 

May the God of peace be with us all.