What do you do when the news is all bad or disappointing? You don’t have to look very hard these days to find bad news, it’s pretty much everywhere. Maybe this is just the way my mind works, but normally, I can compartmentalize bad news that doesn’t directly affect me. By doing so, the feelings of sadness or grief are fairly temporary, allowing me to pray and move on. Not everyone is wired this way I know, but for me, when it comes to bad news on the world or national level my contemplation of the events is brief. Rarely does this type of bad news affect or change the way I live.

These past couple of weeks however, the bad news has been way too close to home and I have to admit I’ve been struggling to keep my focus and perspective. The bad news hasn’t been just one big thing, but lots of little pieces of news all stacked up on each other. From car issues to jobs that are not going the way you had hoped, medical reports that aren’t horrible but also not great to close friends walking through big life challenges. On top of all the bad news, it’s winter. I HATE winter! Living where we do in middle America we get dramatic temperature shifts on the daily. Those shifts play havoc with my bum knee, so I never know if I’m going to be in pain all day or not. Lots of this little stuff piled up on top of each other has me on the struggle bus as of late. There are moments of joy, like celebrating a Chiefs win with close friends, but also moments of grief and sadness that send me running into isolation. 

The thing is, bad news is a part of life. As a Christian though, shouldn’t I be prepared to handle whatever life brings? God never said following Him would be easy, in fact, the opposite is true. John 16:33 says “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” Notice the word choice, Jesus doesn’t say here “you might” or “if you have suffering”, but “when”. It’s a foregone conclusion that hard times are going to happen to each and everyone of us! James also tells us in 1:2 “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials”. Again, maybe this is just the way I am wired, but somehow knowing what to expect and still being caught off guard by it makes me feel worse. Because as a Christ follower, we are supposed to be different, be better, be holy. Bad days, weeks and months shouldn’t affect us, because we are supposed to somehow rise above it all. Right?!

Here is another insight into how my mind works – I hate to cry! It is very rare that I will allow myself to break down and let all the pent up emotion come out in tears. The problem with this behavior is that all those emotions are bubbling up inside and are eventually going to leak out. Unfortunately, for me that typically happens in the form of lack of patience, anger or harsh and unnecessary words flying out of my mouth before I can stop them. Do you see where all this is going? Satan sucks!! All these little things (grief, guilt, disappointment, sadness) that my pride allows to build and stack, only make it easy for him to distract and lead me towards disengagement. 

But God! John 16:33 also says “Be courageous, because I have conquered the world!” and if you read on in James we read “because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” Romans 8:38-39 reads “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All this leaves us with a question – how do we as Christians, handle bad and/or disappointing news when it comes our way in a way that not only honors God, but also does not adversely affect our witness? Believe me, I wish I had all the answers here but clearly I don’t. I’ve actually got several apologies to make this next week because of angry words that leaked out of my mouth. 

But this I do know – God understands! He already knew and already knows all the news coming our way. There is not one single thing that catches Him by surprise! He is always faithful, always gracious and is always exactly where we need him to be. He isn’t hiding or ignoring us, He is working in us and in our situations to bring about the good He has had planned since before time began. We need to lean into scripture and allow God’s words to fill us and comfort us in the only way that truly brings peace. Psalms 34:18 says “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” God knows and He is at work in each of us, making us holy as He is holy. Not to mention God has proven this by performing some pretty amazing miracles in seemingly hopeless situations! All we have to do is take a look at biblical history to see His work. Perhaps the best example though is Jesus’ death and resurrection! 

We are all going to face bad and/or hard seasons of life as long as we live in this broken world. Let’s work on our often short-sighted vision and take our hurts, disappointments, grief, guilt, etc. to God and let Him lead us through them. Let’s ask Him to help us figure out a way to deal with the emotions that well up inside of us. Whether that means giving us the freedom to cry or providing us with another avenue to work out all the junk in a healthy and safe manner. I certainly don’t have the answers, but I know the One who does! 

P.S. – Here is a list of scripture that has ministered to my heart this week, maybe someone else needs these words: Psalms 27:1 & 14, Psalms 34:18, Psalms 37, John 1:1-18; 14:6, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:6-7.