Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
What if I told you that you are going to get bad news today? How would you feel? I'm sure if you're like all of the rest of us, you probably had a twinge of fear. Maybe a little bit of anxiety or stress. What could it be? Who could it be about? And all of a sudden, we start filling in the blanks of what this could be about and what could be happening in our life. And what could the bad news be?
That's where we find our Verse of the Day today. Incredible verse in Psalm 112 and verse 7. This is what it says: "They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them." Boy, is that easier said than done, isn't it? We can all sit around, maybe in church or our Bible study or something else as we're talking about the Lord, and say, "Oh, we trust in the Lord." But then we get bad news that completely rocks our world.
A Heart for Those Hurting
And let me just tell you, before we go any further, if you are living in bad news right now, maybe you even got bad news this morning, could be yesterday, you're living in the midst of bad news—first, I am so sorry. Some of you are living through a diagnosis. Some of you may be struggling with family issues, your job, finances. I'm so sorry. It's a very real struggle, and I'm very sorry you're going through that.
But I would just love for us to take some time around this verse and take a look at what this could look like. The "they" in this verse is talking about the righteous person in the context. And how does a righteous person look at this differently when they get bad news?
The Greatest Circumstance
What I love about this verse is it doesn't say when you get bad news, a righteous person celebrates. That would be a little crazy. But it does say we can trust the Lord through it. And the reason why that's such a big distinction is because when we get bad news, we tend to extrapolate out what that translates into. We start filling in all these blanks.
I remember a time—it was a Thursday and a Friday several years ago. On the Thursday, oh my goodness, it was an amazing day. Of course it was Friday eve. It's like almost the end of the week. And Friday morning came and I got some devastating news. And all of a sudden my world that was amazing just the day before seemed like everything was shattered.
And God taught me a valuable lesson in that moment, because He came alongside me and said, "David, I am the same God of yesterday as I am today. I didn't change just because you got bad news this morning. That doesn't change who I am in your life. What role do I play in your circumstances today?"
Oh my goodness, it rocked my world even more than the bad news at the time. And it started teaching me, as He was instructing me so lovingly, that the bad news does not have to define my circumstances. But am I allowing His presence in my life to be the greatest circumstance in my life today? Goodness, that has changed my life forever, as He has lovingly taught me that.
And I would just encourage you, and I want to pass that on to you. If you're living in bad news, allow yourself not to be defined by your bad news, but allow God's presence to now become the greatest circumstance in your life today. And that will be something that even in the midst of bad news, you can learn to trust Him through it, because you've allowed Him to be the greatest circumstance in your life today.
