Don’t Believe Everything You Read…
Keep in mind that nearly everything the news puts out is the worst possible take on the worst things going on in the world. It’s important to know what’s going on, so I’m never an advocate for just putting your head in the sand, but if the news has you regularly scared, it’s doing its job. Then, it becomes an addiction to keep checking if the thing making you scared will also serve to bring you peace, but it never will. And then, living the Christian life is still there, but kinda loses focus, and certain issues that you’re passionate about take center stage.
Everyday, writers, reporters, and producers search every nook and cranny of the world to prey upon your internal anxiety and bring the most juicy and clickable content to your screen. Things they know you’ll want to read. Mostly everything we see is curated and spun, not chiefly to inform, but to get clicked. To sell ads. To make money. And to push society in ways that it wants it to go.
The worst part is - most of us, myself included, spend maybe 15 minutes in God’s Word compared to hours on social media and the news. We spend one hour a week in church and several days with our phones, the internet, and television telling us what’s true on every platform disguised as news or entertainment. With that kind of stark imbalance, it doesn’t give more confidence, it only serves to make you forget that God is in control. It can very easily make you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders - and that you’ll never be able to fix all the problems. And you know what? You can’t.
God alone is in control, and He wants your trust - and guess what? There’s a ton of peace in that, but it takes letting go. Know what’s going on, but with an open hand and prayerful heart. A mind filled with the internet will leave you anxious, burdened, unable to look up at life, unwilling to produce fruit, and could even push you into ways of thinking that are patently unbiblical, but are of your political party. We’ll never be able to eat the fish and spit out the bones if we spend more time in culture than in the counsel of God.
I’ve seen Christian after Christian after Christian lay down Biblical conviction for political persuasion and try to marry godless ideology with confessional Christianity time and time again - why? Because they’re filling their minds with everything the world has to say rather than with the truth of God by sheer comparison of time and amount. It’s simply math. Spend more time eating candy than eating good food - you’ll be malnourished. You’ll be sick. You’ll die. Same with this, but with your heart and mind.
We’re commanded in Ephesians 5 to, “address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” How can we do that if we’re constantly on our phones seeing how the world isn’t going our way?
The truth is:
If our right to gather is taken away, He is in control.
If contradictory health mandates are forced upon us, He is in control.
If we feel intense pressure to embrace what the world claims is justice, sexuality, and acceptable religion, He is in control.
If we’re jailed for our faith, He is in control.
If we face death for what we believe, He is in control.
Have a soft heart with everybody, a flavorful approach to everything, and a mind firmly rooted in the Bible. Don’t be angry. Don’t be biting. Don’t be anxious. Don’t forget that our hope is not in this life. It’s all temporary. It’s all fleeting. It’s all fading away fast. Love others. Pursue truth. Follow Jesus. Submit to scripture. Enjoy peace.
