June 12, 2022
It feels like the news has been pretty bad lately! You can tell from the headlines: “Gasoline reaches record $5 a gallon!” “Inflation is the highest in 40 years.” Well, at least “Covid Down Significantly.” That headline seemed to last about 30 minutes. Now the headline is “Covid is rising.” Another headline is: “Russia Pounding Eastern Ukraine.”
But I want you to know that not all headlines are true. Here are some famous headlines that are very inaccurate: “Titanic Sinking, no lives lost”.
We wish that were true but it’s not. Another famous headline is: “Dewey defeats Truman.” If you’re a young person you might ask, “Who is Dewey?” and the reason you ask that question is because Dewey did not defeat Truman! Some headlines are true but are pretty unbelievable, liken the headline: “Missing woman joins in search party looking for herself.” A woman on a tour bus in Iceland heard that one of the passengers was missing. She didn’t recognize the description of the passenger as herself, and she helped in the search! Headlines are interesting.
But what do you do when the headlines of the day get you down or when your personal headlines leave you worried? There are some Scripture verses that help us out. Colossians 3:1-3 says, “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” The Scripture says that if you follow Jesus, you are in Christ. You are raised like Christ, you are renewed. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” The Scripture is saying, we will still struggle, we will sin. We will still have some worry and fear. But we have a risen Savior to lift us up. We can look at earthly things as if they are not a god. Instead, we look at Christ. We set our minds on God’s power, that God can make all things new. God can renew our minds, so we are hope-filled!
There are earthly things you don’t want too much of! There was a time, I remember when I was small, when there was a newsman named Walter Cronkite on the evening news. And he told you the news of the day, the good and the bad. But he was a soothing presence. He made you feel better.
Today, every news organization knows they hook you better with bad news, anxiety-producing news. They know that you are more likely to keep watching when you hear bad news that makes you fearful. The news organizations make more money, the longer you watch or listen to news that raises your anxiety. So, it is easy to get sucked into paying attention to a lot of bad news. And it’s easy, after hearing so much bad news: to walk around feeling defeated and fearful and worried. But we can set our minds and hearts differently. We can set our minds on things above.
The reality is there’s a lot of hard stuff going on in the world and probably in your life. And you can’t change everything about what’s going on in the world, but you can change your perspective.
In the Scripture, the book of Numbers chapters 13 and 14 tells a story of two very different perspectives. Moses sends men to scout out the promised land. He asks them to find out, is the soil good for growing things? Are there many people? Are they strong warriors?
Different scouts went into the same land and came back with very different perspectives. Joshua and Caleb came back with this report: Our headline is this: God is with us; this land has milk and honey and rich blessings for all. Another group of scouts returned and said, “There are giants who live in this land. And not only that, the land we explored devours those living in it!” The land EATS people! Verse 32 says those scouts spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. Their headline would be “Danger lurks! This land devours the living!”
Two very different reports were given about the same place. One group got so carried away with fear that they made up a world where the ground eats people! Joshua and Caleb, on the other hand, had these headlines: “The land is exceedingly good!” and “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will give it to us!” The Lord was pleased with Joshua and Caleb and their faith! You can’t always change your circumstances, but you can change your perspective.
Another amazing story about someone who wrote their own headline is the Apostle Paul. Paul went from Christian hater to Christ proclaimer. He travelled all over and was a missionary, apostle and wrote many books like Romans, Philippians, and Galatians in our New Testament. Paul always wanted to go to the city of Rome and preach about God. Because he knew Rome was such a strategic city, that if he could go there and preach, the gospel could spread all over the world. Things didn’t turn out exactly as he expected. Instead, the Roman government arrested Paul, beat him and took him by force to Rome. Paul was in prison in Rome, waiting to see if he would be executed.
If there was a news media at the time, what do you think the headlines would be? “Apostle Paul awaits likely execution. Christianity is doomed!” or, “Seven reasons why Christianity will die by the end of the 1st century.” Or someone would make a podcast, “The Rise and Fall of the apostle Paul.” The good news is this, if you’re a Christian, your life is not defined by somebody else’s headline.
And here’s what’s so amazing about Paul as he sits in prison. He does NOT buy into negative headlines. With the help of the Holy Spirit, he changed the headlines. In Philippians 1:12-14 Paul says, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sister, that what’s happened to me (that I am in prison) has actually served to advance the gospel.” WHAT?! How does it help the church to have their top missionary, an apostle, locked up, possibly on death row? Paul says, “As a result of this, (my time in prison) it’s become clear through the whole palace guard, and to everyone else, I am in chains for Christ.” All these prison guards know now, if they didn’t before, who Jesus Christ is! Powerful people in Rome are being introduced to Christ!
Paul continues, “And because of my chains, most of by brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” Paul’s courage has been contagious, and the other Christians are stepping up and sharing their faith boldly. So, if the apostle Paul was writing headlines, he might say, “Roman plan backfires, apostle Paul preaches to a captive audience.” The Romans think Paul is their prisoner, but his guards are hearing his best 14 sermons, preached eight hours a day. Paul didn’t buy into the negative headlines. He wrote his own!
You can do that too! You can look at a negative situation. And look for what’s right. Here’s a headline: “Inflation is high, but I’ve got people in my life that are priceless!”
Most of us have real problems, like a bad health diagnosis. But if you look for what’s right, you can usually find something, like you have support of your family and friends in this. Maybe your marriage is in trouble. But you’re not divorced yet: your marriage still has potential. Or your boss is not happy with you. What’s going right? You still have a job. You can’t always change your circumstances, but you can change your perspective.
My challenge for you this week is to think of a tough situation. Then think of what is going right. What’s the positive side? Write your own headline. Set your mind and heart on things above.
The media doesn’t define what happens in your life or how you feel. The government doesn’t define your life. Where you are today doesn’t determine where you can be tomorrow. God is good, and he’s always working for good in this world. Life is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. When we set our minds on things above, we’re happier, and we can move forward in life, knowing God holds us in his hands. Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 