Christian, you should not dread bad news! Think about it: if terrible reports send you into a panic, how are you any different from those who don't know God? They don't have your God to run to. They've never proved his faithfulness like you have. Of course they're bowed down with fear when disaster strikes. But you? You profess to be of another spirit. You've been born again to a living hope. Your heart lives in heaven, not on earthly things. So if you're just as rattled as everyone else, what good is this grace you profess to have received? Where's the dignity of that new nature you claim to possess?

And here's the danger: if you let fear take control, you'll fall into the same sins everyone else commits when trouble hits. When bad news arrives, the ungodly rebel against God. They murmur and complain that God deals harshly with them. Will you join them in that rebellion? Will you provoke the Lord just like they do?

What's more, unconverted men often run to wrong means to escape their difficulties. And mark my words: if your mind yields to the present pressure, you'll do exactly the same thing. No! Trust in the Lord. Wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to follow Moses' example at the Red Sea: "Stand still and see the salvation of God."

Because if you give way to fear when evil tidings come, you'll lose the calm composure that nerves you for duty and sustains you under adversity. Tell me, how can you glorify God while playing the coward? Saints have sung God's high praises in the fires! But will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High?

Then take courage! Relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."