I have a daughter and son-in-law who live in North Carolina. They’re a couple hours from the beach. Yesterday, I reserved a condo on the beach during spring break. My daughter who lives in California is flying in to join us. A month from now, the rest of us will start the thousand mile drive to get there.
If the weather forecast a few days before we leave is for chilly temperatures and rain–it would be bad news.
But not as bad as hearing a doctor tell you the biopsy was positive for cancer. Or not as bad as losing your job or your house or your loved one.
(By the way, don’t ever minimize the pain or fear someone else is experiencing because of bad news. Maybe their bad news isn’t as bad as your bad news, but it is to them. Bad news is relative and comes in all shapes and sizes, but it’s still bad.)
So what do you do when bad news comes?
Some of us worry and become anxious. We imagine the absolute worst scenario and play it over and over in our minds. I do that.
Some of us go into “fix-it” mode. We research, analyze, figure and calculate. Somehow, we’re going to fix the problem. I do that.
Some of us may start looking for someone to blame. If something has gone wrong, then someone has to be held responsible. I do that.
Some of us get emotional and go into a full blown panic attack, while others internalize everything and suffer in silence. I do the latter.
What do you do? How do you react when bad news hits?
Toward the very end of His earthly ministry, Jesus tells His disciples He’s going to be killed and that one of them would betray Him. Jesus also predicts that Peter will deny even knowing Him.
The one you have followed and loved and served for three years is going to suffer and die. For sure, that’s some bad news.
Take a look at what Jesus tells them:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.” John 14:1
The word “troubled” means “to agitate, to cause inward commotion, take away calmness of mind…”
I’ve been there. I’m sure you have, too.
It’s interesting though, Jesus says, “Do not let…”
How often do we hear some type of bad news and immediately experience fear or worry or panic? And yet, Jesus tells us not to let that happen. Like it’s actually a choice. Like it’s something we have control over.
Is it possible though? Is it even realistic to think we could not be troubled at the mention of bad news?
The key is in the believing. Not simply believing that Jesus exists, but that He can be trusted, that we can place our confidence in Him and know He will not let us down.
I’m not suggesting that our initial reaction to bad news won’t ever be a wave of fear. When the phone rings at 2:00 a.m., it’s hard to not panic–especially if it truly is bad news.
But once the initial blow has passed…then what? How do we react once we’ve had time to gather ourselves?
Bad news doesn’t have to sink us. We just need to be quick to remember that Jesus is still good. He’s still faithful. He’s still in control. And He still loves us. No matter what we’re facing.
His power and peace are real and they’re available. When we need them. It just requires that we believe Jesus.
Oh, if you don’t spend much time reading the Bible, so that you can actually know the truth about Jesus, then you’ll probably continue to struggle with a troubled heart. A troubled heart results from troubled thoughts. Troubled thoughts must be replaced with the truth.