The Good News and the Bad News!

 

Have you ever had someone ask you the question, "Which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?" I never really know how to answer that question. When I read the Bible it seems like it is full of both good and bad news. As a matter of fact there is MORE bad news than good news if we are talking sheer quantity. AND right now I would say the world is filled with a lot more bad news than good news. I read this morning that a young girl was run over by her father in their driveway. He thought he drove over a basketball. He was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. War continues in the Ukraine and the middle east. Our elections and politics are filled with hate and corruption. Our country is filled with division, poverty, oppression, crime, and violence. I can't even watch the news any more, it's too depressing. Is there some good news? My answer is unequivocally YES! I have seen the mighty power of Gods hand at work in our community, our state, and our nation. Daily, I see people hungry for God's word, asking questions and seeking Him. I see people caring for each other and a commitment of service by churches and other charity groups. Yes, there IS good news in this world!

Today, I read four chapters in Jeremiah and it felt like I was on a roller coaster. At one minute Jeremiah delivers a message from God about God's anger and his punishment on Judah. The next minute we are hearing about a hope for the future. There is despair and there is hope in midst of the Babylonian siege.

"I hear cries of fear; there is terror and no peace. Now let me ask you a question: Do men give birth to babies? They why do they stand there, ashe-faced, hands pressed against their sides like a woman in labor? In all history there has never been such a time of terror. It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel. Yet in the end they will be saved!" (Jeremiah 30:4-7)

"All your lovers - your allies - have left you and do not care about you anymore. I have wounded you cruelly, as though I were your enemy. For your sins are many, and your guilt is great... But all who devour you will be devoured, and all your enemies will be sent into exile. All who plunder you will be plundered, and all who attack you will be attacked. I will give you back your health and heal your wounds,' says the Lord, 'For you are called an outcast -- 'Jerusalem' for whom no one cares." (Jeremiah 30:14,16-17)

"'The day is coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,' says the Lord. 'But this new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God , and they will be my people....And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.'" (Jeremiah 31:31-33,34)

Do you feel the burden of all the bad news? Are you to the point of giving up hope? Do you fear evil has won and good has lost? The Lord has not forgotten you. He has not left you in despair. Turn to him and he will restore you. He will gather you under his wing and protect you. Rely upon the Lord. He is the only hope in the midst of trial and tribulation! The Good News of Jesus Christ far outweighs any bad news we could possible face now and forevermore!