Daily EncouragementSample

Bad news is a test of faith, of character, of spiritual life. It takes us by surprise and it reveals where we stand. The phone rings, the messenger arrives, the lightning strikes, the darkness falls. In a moment our whole outlook is changed, but in a sense we remain as we were, and our reaction reveals just where that is.

Bad news is ultimately an encouragement to the godly. They find that the Rock on which they stand is firm:

Sometimes on the Rock I tremble,
Faint of heart and weak of knee.
But the mighty Rock of Ages,
Never trembles under me.

They are amazed at themselves as they hear what others say about them: “You don’t seem very disturbed,” was the comment made to one Christian who had just received word that his wife had cancer. They wonder at their own words: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised,” (Job 1:20).

The explanation of this strength is the steadfast heart which trusts in the Lord. The crisis moment reveals the whole bent of a person’s life. The godly individual does not start to trust God when trouble comes. He lives his whole life by faith in him. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord” (Ps. 112:1).