Bad News

Bad news. We’ve all gotten it at some point in our lives. Maybe it was the unexpected loss of a loved one, or maybe your company was downsizing and they were letting you go, or maybe a doctor’s visit didn’t go how you had planned. Bad news comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t care about your social status, age or race. Most of us will not, and probably have not, received bad news only once in our lives. If you’re reading this today, you have survived 100% of the bad news you have been given so far in life.

So what do we do when bad news comes knocking at our doors as Christians?  What should our response be?  The Bible is pretty clear on what our course of action should be when the time comes: pray. First and foremost, we should personally pray to God for our own situation. We should go to Him with our fears, our weaknesses and our questions. God is big enough to handle all of them. I think of the the life of David between when he was anointed king and he actually became king. The trials and tribulations (bad news) he endured during those times that give us so much of the Book of Psalms. “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” - Psalm 34:4.

Second, we should confide in our closest circle the need for them to pray with us and for us. Our closest and dearest friends and family will always seek the Lord on our behalf in whatever bad news we may be facing making supplications for our needs. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” - James 5:16. We know from God’s Word that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He is there. When we ask for His will to be done, He hears our prayers.

Lastly, when we are done praying, we are to pray some more, seeking God’s intervention. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” - Matthew 7:7-8. God’s answer may not always be what we think is the correct response, but it is always the right response in accordance to His Will. Even our Savior knew that, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” - Matthew 26:39.

Have a great day and God bless.