He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. (Psalm 112:7)
How do you respond to bad news? How about a series of bad news, one after another? In these peculiar times where news feeds push out bad news about our island, nation and world, we may feel overwhelmed to the point of hopelessness. Or we may get defensive, bury our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is just a bad dream we will wake up from. We may become cynical thinking the worst and preparing for it. We may even retreat into isolation from our relationships, families, and friendships.
The author of this psalm responds to bad news differently. Bad news does not have to dictate the state of our hearts. Instead, our hearts can remain firm, strong and resolved. Why? Because we trust in the Lord. We know that with God, bad news makes ready good news. Bad news is not the last news to be published. On the Cross, the perfect Son of God died. What looked like bad news ended up being the salvation for all those who would believe in Him. Three days later Jesus rose triumphantly from the dead. Death led to life.
In our lives, we may be faced with much bad news: our health, our finances, our family. our relationships. Yet, our hearts can remain firm because we have a God who has conquered sin, death and Satan. And He lives to see us through to the end!