Some people have observed that the best way to wreck a new day is to consult the news first thing in the morning. Hearing or reading about acts of violence and mayhem, traffic fatalities, wars, the troubled economy, and natural disasters before or during breakfast can easily turn even the sunniest day into gloom and doom.
Having cut my journalistic teeth as a newspaper editor, I feel almost obligated to watch the evening news and read the daily newspapers – now online mostly, rather than the paper versions I loved so much. It’s important to be informed about the world around us. But it’s become increasingly difficult with the media’s predominantly negative tone.
We can choose to totally ignore the news, as some people have done. After all, isn’t ignorance bliss? But as citizens of our communities, our nation and the world, we should have some idea about what’s happening. The key is to avoid letting bad news shape our moods and attitudes. As an old friend used to say, “You can’t keep birds from flying over your head – but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”
What I’ve found works best is not to expect people and circumstances to put me into a brighter, more optimistic frame of mind. Instead, I turn to the Bible to find refuge from the cloud of negativity we confront every day. Reading and trusting in the principles and promises from the Scriptures have a way of turning one’s thinking from, “Good lord, morning!” to “Good morning, Lord!”
For instance, in Philippians 4:8 the apostle Paul offers this advice: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
That passage – a single verse – gives us a lot to contemplate. Focusing on the truth, what’s noble and right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy; that’s more than enough to pull us out of our daily doldrums. How often does our culture encourage us to do that?
The Old Testament book of Jeremiah offers two verses in particular that many times have helped point my mind in the right direction. The promise God gave the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:11 I believe applies to all of His children, even those of us living thousands of years later: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plants to give you hope and a future.’” For me, it’s like Him saying, “I know things don’t look all that great right now. But no worries. I’ve got this.”
Then there’s Jeremiah 33:3 in which God declares, “Call on Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.” I’ve experienced this numerous times during my lifetime and I’m looking forward to even more, both in this life and the life to come.
When we see or encounter negative behavior over the course of our everyday activities, we’re assured it’s not from the Lord. Because Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; against such things there is no law.” Through God’s Holy Spirit, which the Bible says indwells every believer, we can learn to live, think and speak in ways that separate us from the negative environment surrounding us.
There are countless other biblical examples I could cite, but perhaps the greatest reason for hoping and thinking positively in a predominantly negative world is Jesus’ promise in John 16:33. He told His followers, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
At times that might not seem to be the case. But as the old preacher often repeated, “God said it. I believe it. And that’s that!” Let me challenge you: When everything seems to be getting darker and darker, as if the sky is falling, dig into the Scriptures. You’ll find more than enough reasons for hope that endures in a seemingly hopeless world.
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