The emotional shock waves of the news day in and day out can take a toll on all of us. One of the ways that I have found myself able to handle the barrage of wave after wave of new troubling information (bodies being left in the streets of Equador, EMTs leaving cardiac arrest victims at the scene in NYC, hospitals overloaded, doctors and nurses taking pay cuts while pouring out their lives for others) is to lean heavily into a practical trusting of the One who claims to be trustworthy and true.
This practical trusting of the faithful and true God, who also claims to be the essence of authentic love, tests my faith when I know He at least allows this kind of suffering. It really tests my faith when I think that He maybe even caused this suffering. Nonetheless, if His claims to be the source of healing, to be all knowing, all powerful, truly holy, perfect, the essence of good, truth and life, then talking to Him about these things that are so troubling can be our source of power and strength in the face of the wave upon wave of bad news.
So every piece of bad news that we hear can become an active prayer from us to God. Likewise, every bit of good news we hear, can become a prayer of thanks to God. Sure, it is good to have prayer lists for things we want from God or prayer lists for people we love. What about every news article we see becoming an active prayer to God about that situation? Can our news feeds, social feeds, and emails become the source of connecting us with the Solution?
It can easily begin with “Dear Jesus, please help. Amen.” Or maybe when I see good news to say “Thank you Jesus.” Don’t be surprised if this little prayer grows into an ongoing conversation with He who holds the whole world in His Hands.