You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. 6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 12:1-6 ESV
My oldest daughter, Carolyn, told me a few months back that she just can’t watch the news anymore; it’s too stressful. It’s not that she has any other life stresses with a busy household of a husband and three children, the youngest still not sleeping through the night as she approaches her first birthday. So I’m sympathetic, but as a news junky, I couldn’t imagine not watching the news every day and knowing what is going on; or at least knowing what the media wants me to think are the most significant events.
Then, I was in Chicago for three days in late April for the annual conference of the Gospel Coalition http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ three days with minimal exposure to national and world news; and listening to an all star lineup of such men as Don Carson, Bryan Chapell, Marc Driscoll, Ligon Duncan, Agith Fernando, Tim Keller, John Piper and Phil Ryken. It was a busy week, three days in Chicago, essentially one day to finalize my sermon prep for Sunday, followed by the Saturday graduation of our daughter in law, Katie. But I noticed that I felt less stress that week without the incessant bad news of the world, but rather the Good News of Jesus that dominated my mind and heart.
I’m not advocating a “head in the sand” approach to life. I reconnected with world and national news; the collapse of the U.S. automotive and banking industries, 10% unemployment, trillion dollar deficits, and political rancor in Washington about “enhanced interrogation” and who knew what when (I think I’ve heard that before).
The question is: How does the information I receive form my perspective on life and affect how I feel? My Bible reading these days is from the prophet, Isaiah, who has plenty of bad news to report in terms of God’s judgment on the nations. But the underlying or over arching theme of Isaiah is that God is in Control and can be trusted to do what is right and bring about the vindication of righteousness.
Isaiah may be 2750 years old, but he still communicates the Good News that God is in Control and is a great Savior! How about joining me in Isaiah for healthy food for the mind and heart?
Tom Macy 