When Bad News Finds You

When Bad News Finds You

2 Chronicles 20:1 to 4 - "Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD." 2 Chronicles 20:3

The message arrived without warning. A vast army was coming against Judah.

By the time Jehoshaphat received the news, the enemy was not somewhere far away making plans. They were already moving. The messengers told him that the army had reached Hazazon Tamar, which is En Gedi. The threat was close, and there was very little time to prepare.

Then the Bible tells us something about Jehoshaphat that I am glad God allowed to remain in the story.

He was afraid.

Scripture does not tidy up that part to make him appear more spiritual. It does not tell us that because Jehoshaphat knew God, frightening news no longer frightened him. He heard what was coming, understood what it could mean for his people, and fear came.

What mattered was what he did with that fear.

The same verse that tells us Jehoshaphat was alarmed tells us that he resolved to inquire of the Lord. Before we hear about soldiers, weapons or strategy, we see a frightened man turn towards God.

That is where the story begins to change.

Think about what happens inside us when bad news arrives. The mind can travel astonishing distances in a matter of minutes. One email comes in and suddenly we are imagining what life will look like six months from now. One conversation goes badly and we have already decided how the relationship will end. One symptom appears and before we know it, our thoughts have carried us somewhere frightening. We begin preparing emotionally for things that have not actually happened.

Sometimes the threat is not imaginary. Jehoshaphat's certainly was not. An army really was approaching. Yet even when the danger was real, he understood that fear was not qualified to decide what happened next.

There is a difference between feeling afraid and allowing fear to become your counsellor.

Perhaps that is where some of us need to begin.

The diagnosis came. The email arrived. The relationship changed. The money is not enough. Your child is struggling. The job suddenly feels uncertain. Something you thought was secure no longer feels secure, and you genuinely do not know how the matter will end.

You do not have to pretend that it has not frightened you.

Sometimes we are unnecessarily hard on ourselves because we felt fear. We imagine that if our faith were stronger, the news would not have affected us. Yet Jehoshaphat's story gives us another picture. Faith did not mean that fear never entered his heart. Faith determined where he went once it did.

Jehoshaphat could have called his commanders first. He could have started counting soldiers and assessing Judah's military strength. None of those things would necessarily have been wrong. There would eventually be instructions. There would eventually be movement. There would even be a journey towards the battlefield. Seeking God did not mean refusing practical action.

It meant that panic would not be allowed to choose the action.

Jehoshaphat called Judah to fast, and people came from the towns to seek the Lord. The king's private fear became a nation's invitation to prayer.

I find that deeply moving. The thing that could have driven him into panic drove him into the presence of God instead.

Maybe we have spent too much time praying that nothing will ever frighten us. Perhaps another prayer is needed.

"Lord, when I am frightened, teach me where to run."

Because frightening days do come. Jesus never promised us a life in which disturbing news would never reach our door. But the arrival of fear does not have to mean the departure of faith.

Before you send that message, make that decision, assume the worst or spend another night trying to solve tomorrow in your head, come back to God.

Come honestly.

Come frightened if that is how you feel.

Come without knowing what the answer will be.

The size of the problem does not disqualify you from peace. It simply reminds you that you were never meant to carry life without God.

Think about the situation currently disturbing your peace. What has your mind already decided will happen?

Now separate what you actually know from what fear has added to the story.

Then ask yourself another question. Have I truly brought this matter before God, or have I simply spent a lot of time worrying about it while occasionally mentioning His name?

There is a difference.

Prayer

Father, You know the things that frighten me, including the ones I have not said aloud. You know the news I am hoping not to receive, the situations I cannot control and the outcomes my mind keeps rehearsing. I do not want fear to become my counsellor. When fear comes, teach me to turn towards You before I turn towards panic. Quiet the part of me that wants to solve tomorrow before You have given me grace for tomorrow. I bring before You the situation that has been occupying my thoughts. I will not pretend that it is small, but I refuse to make it greater than You. Give me wisdom for whatever requires action and restraint wherever fear is pushing me to move too quickly. Teach me to seek You first. In Jesus' name, Amen.