When Bad News Comes

We live in an age of nonstop headlines and relentless alerts. Wars, disasters, political upheaval, pandemics, economic uncertainty bad news is everywhere. And while much of it scrolls by from a safe distance, what truly rattles us is when the bad news becomes personal.

A loved one’s diagnosis. A marriage unraveling. A job suddenly gone. The kind of phone call that changes everything. In a single moment, our world can shift from stable to storm-tossed.

For those who follow Christ, this isn’t just an emotional crisis it becomes a spiritual reckoning. What do we do when life caves in? When we’re blindsided by sorrow or anxiety? How do we trust when the worst actually comes?

Psalm 112:7 offers a startlingly bold answer:

“He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”

Blindsided and Shaken

The psalmist doesn’t offer a hypothetical. He acknowledges that bad news does come. The verse doesn't promise that faith keeps tragedy at bay. Instead, it declares something deeper: faith gives us an anchor when the waves hit.

Many of us, like the author of this reflection, have walked through valleys darker than we ever imagined. A diagnosis of cancer. An emergency room visit. A life-altering phone call. These aren’t theoretical trials they are gut-wrenching realities. And they shake us.

What Psalm 112 offers is not a denial of suffering, but a lens through which to view it. It invites us to a kind of trust that doesn’t crumble when the script of our lives suddenly rewrites itself.

The False Security of Control

Often, we try to protect ourselves by mentally rehearsing every possible “what if” scenario. We create a mental world where we can handle bad news as long as it’s expected. But when the unexpected strikes, we find that we were never really trusting God at all we were trusting our ability to predict or prevent pain.

The psalmist offers a better way: not a controlled life, but a trusting heart. He doesn’t fear bad news, not because he’s delusional, but because his faith is not in outcomes. It’s in God Himself.

A Life Rooted in the Word

Psalm 112 opens with this foundation: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments” (Psalm 112:1). This isn’t a casual Bible reader it’s someone who lives and breathes Scripture. Their soul is steeped in the promises and patterns of God’s Word. That’s what anchors them when the storm rages.

This theme echoes throughout the Psalms. Psalm 1, Psalm 27, Psalm 46 they all speak of a God who is present, powerful, and personal in the darkest of days. Faith, according to the Psalms, isn’t pretending the pain doesn’t exist. It’s holding onto the God who does not change, even when everything else does.

A Trust That Blesses Others

Psalm 112 doesn’t stop at personal peace. It paints a picture of a life that ripples outward. “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 112:9). This is a person whose trust in God spills over into generosity, compassion, and community blessing.

When we trust God deeply, even in suffering, our lives become stabilizing forces for others. We become living proof that faith works in real life not just when everything is fine, but when everything falls apart.

The Reality of Fear

Even with deep faith, fear doesn’t evaporate. The psalmist isn’t promoting stoicism. Instead, he’s modeling a faith that fights fear with truth. When the diagnosis comes, when the fears swirl, when the nights are sleepless we are not alone. God is our “very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Cancer, loss, heartbreak these are real. They shake us. But they don’t destroy us. We have a King, enthroned in Psalm 2, who reigns above every headline, every diagnosis, and every fear.

When Bad News Comes for You

If you find yourself bracing for more bad news or reeling from the news you’ve already received know this: You’re not the first to walk this road. The Psalms are full of voices who questioned, wept, and clung to hope all at once.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God…” (Psalm 42:11).

Bad news is all around us. But so is God’s unchanging Word. It gives us the vocabulary of both grief and trust. It meets us in our worst days with the reminder that we are not alone, and that the worst news is never the final word.

So when the next storm hits and it will anchor yourself in the truth that never moves. Not in what you can control. But in who controls it all.

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