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I’ll confess. Sometimes I am afraid of bad news.

I’m not really a pessimistic person. I think those around me would say I have strong faith, often exude confidence, and appear generally hopeful. Yet sometimes I anticipate the other shoe dropping.

Meditating

I read Isaiah 26:3 this morning. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you.” I almost always start there every morning. I calm myself. I pray. I read Scripture. I meditate on it and write about it. And then later, as I go about daily tasks, I hear the news of the day. In some ways, it’s probably a mistake to listen or read it since it is generally presented in a way that incites fear. Every news report is rather biased, regardless of your source. And then the comments from the political right and left reinforce their talking points with a hope to keep or find more constituents.

I justify my news consumption by telling myself we leaders need to have a sense of the concerns on people’s minds. Being uninformed isn’t really an option. Lately, the concerns about the rising infection rates give every leader pause. Many of us have experienced negativity and criticism regardless of what we say or do. We are told to follow the science by some and simply to have faith by others. And for some reason, it seems that many insist that these two positions are in opposition to one another.

Feeling stuck

So a few hours into the day my mind wanders. If we are not careful, it is easy to get stuck in the bad news. And some of it is truly bad news. It might be bad because it’s not accurate. It might be bad because something bad has indeed happened. As people of faith, we mustn’t allow ourselves to get stuck thinking that bad news somehow cancels our faith, our hope, our response, and our peace.

Isaiah wrote in a season of bad news. There was captivity for God’s chosen. There was destruction of property. There was exile from homeland and family. There were evildoers gaining ground. There were limited resources. But in the midst of all that, Isaiah gave visions of a new day. The vision was of the Messiah who would bring a new Kingdom. There were visions of the ultimate and final place of rest for all who would put their trust in God and in his Messiah. But there were also directions for the current realities. And these words can help you and me even now as we are bombarded with news that brings fear and uncertainty.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you…”

Reviewing constantly

Starting the day in meditation and prayer in God’s presence and remembering his truth is good, but it is not enough. The peace, the complete and perfect peace comes when we keep our mind stayed on God. A morning snapshot will not hold us. A memory book is better. We need constant review of what God has accomplished for all of us as well as what he has done for each of us.

Scripture helps us remember. Prayers throughout the day keep our minds from being lost in a vacuum of hopelessness. Community with other believers provides support as well as perspective. The psalmist gives us a message similar to Isaiah’s: “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady…”

Centuries later the apostle Paul, who was very familiar with bad news, taught us how not to be controlled by it. His words: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Paul was right. We need a guard for our hearts and minds because there are many who constantly attempt to distract, discourage, and defeat us.

Focusing on our rock

Psalm 91 is a favorite of mine. I read it this morning and noticed that it speaks specifically to us in this moment of Covid concerns. Verses 5 and 6 tell us that God is with us even as destruction and pestilence arrive. Vaccines can help and are important. Masks can help. All of the things that science provides can be used to assist in reducing the power and duration of this disease, just as science has helped many times before by producing vaccines that have all but eliminated enemies like polio.

And faith in God allows us not to fear and, instead, to stay in perfect peace even as many will seek to destroy our peace. It is not science or God. It is God first and always. But we can be thankful that God has raised up scientists who seek to help, to prevent, and to discover treatments that assist in times of pestilence. Covid will not be the last disease we face. It’s not the only one we face now. But faith and trust in the Almighty will bring us through.

Do not let your mind stay on the diseases and the difficulties. Peace, perfect peace, comes with focus and trust in our rock, the everlasting Lord.