He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD (Psalm 112:7)
Fearing bad news is worse than hearing bad news. Death, Disease, and Divorce are three of the biggest bad news items. The weeping announcement of a loved one's death. The day the doctor gives a dreadful diagnosis of a cancer affliction. The courier delivers a package containing legal documents that expresses a spouse's desire for a divorce. All of these are proclamations of living out our lives on this sinful planet. This is the reality. Bad news tells us where we are. Sin brings bad news. We will get sick. We will die. Divorce happens when hearts are hardened. Many of us have heard these announcements. Many of us have a fear that we will hear them. Few are spared evil tidings. But this is why the gospel is such good news. It is like a breath of fresh air blowing through the stagnant atmosphere of life that lives no more. The cable news networks could not survive without bad news feeding the fears of people. Fear is a miserable condition and a miserable place to inhabit. Especially the fear of bad news. We begin to believe that we will actually not survive hearing these things. And we will go to any length to live in denial or refusal to hear and face the truth. Even pretending that all is well in this world. But the power of the gospel is enough to empower us to hear bad news. A person whose heart is established by the righteousness of Christ has a God-strong heart...steadfast...and braced for the bad news. This kind of person does not fear evil tidings when it comes. Why? Because this person fears God. And knows that for bad news to reach the ears it must have been first of all heard by the LORD...and a God fearing person trusts the LORD with evil tidings. Fearing God changes fearful hearts into faithful hearts. We can trust God to handle the truth.
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