When I spend time listening to news, I can get discouraged very quickly. The old adage is true: “blood sells papers.” Now that TV has taken over the way we hear about the affairs of the world, the old newspaper theme is a bit passe, so now we get news of disasters, crime in the streets, and injustice in full color, illustrated with visuals our minds cannot erase once we’ve seen them.
I’m so glad I have the book of Good News. It’s counteracts all the nastiness of this sin-fillled world where we sensationalize the bad and only occasionally show the good. I’m thankful for poeple like Fred Rogers whose mother taught him that in every disaster, we should look at the good that occurs. What sage advice.
Sometimes it’s hard to find the good. Senseless violence, stealing by mobs, insensitive speech ans accusations, character assassinatio, injustice in all its forms, and the heated rhetoric of politics can prey on the mind and cause us to wonder how we can counterbalance it all.
Here’s a Proverbs verse I love and want to share today: “A glad heart makes a happy face’ a broken heart crushes the spirit. A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health. For the happy heart, life is a continual feast.” (Proverbs 15:13, 30, 15)
It’s hard to smile and exchange good thoughts, Pollyanna style. Grumpiness and disdain may be the reaction, but a smile doesn’t cost anything, and the muscle memory can be trained to be automatic. We need to display a happy disposition so people may ask us, “Why are you always happy?” even though at times our hearts are aching. It’s not disingenuous. It’s not contractory. It’s not playacting. What it is for the Christian is an opportunity to share the Good News that God is in charge, that all is well if we believe His promises, and that there’s a difference between happiness and joy. For we have the joy in our hearts that whether we live or whether we die, all is gain as long as we belong to Jesus. Let’s let God be God. He will bring reward to His own and he will take care of the negativity. He promised to do so. The Bible says, “Vengeance is mine!” God said it, I believe it, and I know He can handle the sins of the world. He already has through Jesus’ sacrifice. We have a reason for the happy countenance and the winsome message of Jesus.
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