What's in the News?

I got a little frustrated first thing this morning after taking the pooch out.  While Fiver checked out the neighbor’s yard for the squirrel he usually chases down the fence line, I noticed that my zucchini plant had a beautiful yellow bloom.  So I ran back into the house and grabbed my camera, only to be denied a sharp picture as my lens fogged under the pressure of all the humidity that filled the air!  Therefore, instead of having a clear, bright print, I ended up with a photo that looks like it was taken on a typically foggy morning on the Sonoma County, California coastline!  On the positive side though, it did remind me of the many enjoyable times my wife, family and I experienced on those wonderful, rugged beaches!

The fogging of my camera lenses as well as my glasses has been happening a lot with the recent surge of muggy mornings out here.  I have also noticed that there seems to be a lot of fogged lenses in the minds of many of the mainstream news agencies!  A quick look over the Yahoo news site recently showed about six negative articles concerning our president, numerous articles criticizing the Fox News organization, and a couple of stories explaining why Christians are biased, racist and out of touch with modern society!  Quite a way to start one’s morning off, wouldn’t you say! 

I often wonder if there are areas in my own life where I am predetermined to see things through a fog because of past experiences or incorrect teaching.  With everything that we have gone through in dealing with the various aspects of the disease that has attacked my wife’s body, I have had to take a long and hard look at most everything I have believed and stood for.  I think that is why I am so sensitive to what is going on in our society.  How certain sides of the political spectrum tend to see things through a predetermined set of filters that fog their understanding of someone who has a conflicting viewpoint.

As I consider all of this from my Christian perspective, I am drawn back to Acts 13:41 where the Apostle Paul writes, “Look you people who make fun of God!  Be amazed and disappear.  I will do something today that you won’t believe, even if someone tells you about it.” (CEV)  Through this verse I see the folks that write the derogatory articles about my beliefs and realize that they really aren’t making fun of me, but of God!  And then I get excited because the Lord promises us that our generation will see some other things that He is going to do that will literally blow the critics away!

Or as The Message Bible puts it, “Watch out you cynics; Look hard --- watch your world fall to pieces.  I’m doing something right before your eyes that you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.”  God in His glory and might is doing something right now that many are clearly missing!  It is happening all around us, but just about none of it is being reported by the media.

My Christian brothers and sisters are walking in joy and peace in the midst of the turmoil that is being stirred up by those who just don’t have a clue!  But as Believers, we do have a clue!  When I get frustrated over what I keep reading in the mainstream news, I have to turn off the computer, the TV or the radio and look to scriptures like 2 Corinthians 2:14 and declare the Lord’s promise, “NOW thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.” (KJV)

Whew!  Take a moment and say the verse out loud a few times… Ah… isn’t that better!  I’ll take God’s Word on any subject, on any situation or any current news event over anything recorded in the news.  How about you?

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, take a deep breath and ask yourself… “Whose Word am I expecting to believe today?”