How would you feel if you learned there was a meteor ten miles wide on a collision course with earth and scientists were predicting an almost 100% chance of a direct hit in three days that would essentially end life as we know it?

Or how would you feel if you worked for months and months on a political campaign and after the votes were counted, the candidate you worked so hard for lost?

Or how would you feel if when you went to work each day there was a group of people who did nothing but criticize and insult you and tell you your ideas were bad and your plans had no chance of success?

I can tell you how I’d feel. Scared. Discouraged. Anxious. Worried. Hopeless.

Now what if the calculations were wrong and the meteor was never on a collision course? What if you turned off the television before all the votes were counted and your candidate actually won? What if your idea was good and your plans were solid and you knew your competitor sent those people?

Here’s the problem…even if something isn’t true, if you believe it is, you will still be plagued by negative emotions. Reality may be very different than what you believe, but if you don’t know it, then you’re stuck believing a lie.

The truth changes everything though. Imagine the joy of learning the meteor is millions of miles away, your candidate won and your idea is so good you’re getting a promotion and a raise.

This morning, I read a passage in Ezekiel about false prophets. Here’s one of the verses that stuck out to me:

You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins. (Ezekiel 13:22)

“There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing.”

They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination. (Nehemiah 6:8-9)

And finally, I thought about this verse:

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

So all of this got me thinking. What if things aren’t as bad as we think? Yeah, I know the world is a messed up, broken place, but what if there are many more people in the world who are working for what’s good and right than we think?

Could it be that a very small minority of well-placed people in influential positions could cause mass fear and discouragement?

If you don’t think so, just listen to a politician or turn on the news.

I don’t mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but then again, maybe I do.