No fear of bad news

Psalm 112:7 says, "They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord."

I've been thinking a lot about this verse lately, as the past two weeks have been riddled with news of tragedy. A co-worker and father of three young children comes closer to the end of his battle with cancer; a Hope Professor dies giving birth to her first child; a guy from my hometown who graduated from Hope with me is killed instantly when his car hits the median driving home from work; a second cousin is found dead in his off-campus apartment of an apparent suicide. As I have heard each one of these stories I find myself thinking most of the family left behind, those that receive the phone calls, that deal with the aftermath, the lifetime of grief.

And my mind has kept coming back to Psalm 112, grappling to understand how we are to have no fear of bad news in the face of such bad news- every one of the families affected by these events are Christians. I think somehow, the key to the verse is the second half, the steadfast trust in the Lord that allows us to not fear, even in the midst of bad news, and in the following verse. The next verse, verse 8, says "Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes." Our trust and security do not come because we know that we will never be touched by tragedy, that we will never receive 'that phone call' or never experience the pain of sorrow and death. We have no fear because in the end, we have the victory in Jesus Christ. We have no fear because of the promise of eternal life. Psalm 112 doesn't say that we have no sorrow or pain, that immeasurable grief won't come our way. As Pa Tuck said in Tuck Everlasting, dying is a part of living, without it we are like rocks at the side of the road.

This weekend we remember and celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection, his sacrifice that allows us to live victorious over the grave: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:55. In the face of such grief and tough news, I cling to the hope we have in Christ, that he walks with us, never leaving us alone.

Treasures in Heaven

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged! Lots going on, in life, in my head, in my heart. I've been working hard in another long term sub position, and finding it much more challenging than the last. At the same time, I have enjoyed the consistency, especially being in the same building as before, where the staff has really welcomed me and made me feel at home.

During spring break I had the opportunity to stay with two of my cousins for a week while their parents were gone and really enjoyed hanging out with them. Unfortunately I got the World's Worst Cold during that time, which was just hitting it's peak when two of my friends came to visit for a few days. It was awesome to see the girls, but I felt really bad not being able to do much with them. By last weekend I was beginning to be able to sleep a bit at night, but also came down with laryngitis- not a great thing for a teacher! I limped through this week at work and am finally back to nearly 100% voice.

I'm also plugging away on preparations for Thailand and have taken great steps in completing my paperwork. Emotionally, the preparation is coming along as well. I'm working on various plans and places to go and people to see before I leave (in 3 short months!). God has definitely been at work in my heart, helping me to appreciate these moments while still getting ready for this new chapter.

Lately I've been struck by the fragility of life and the hope that we have in Christ- how all the rest of it just means so little. Ecclesiastes resonates in my head, 'meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless!' as it becomes more and more clear to me what really lasts. I was watching the third Narnia movie last weekend with my friends and one scene jumped out with me: when Eustace finds the dragon's treasure and his eyes get real big and he starts scooping up as much of it as possible. We, the reader/viewer, know how futile it is, how no matter how much he picks up, he can't take it with him. How much time and energy I spend trying to gather up what I can't take with me! My prayer is that no matter where I am, here or Thailand or elsewhere, I would spend my time and energy and resources to store up that which lasts.