Listen to Someone Else

FRIDAY, FIFTH WEEK OF LENT

Listen to Someone Else

For I hear many whisperings: ‘Terror is all around!’ … But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior. —Jeremiah 20:10-11

Forget about whispering; we hear much of the media and plenty of individual cynics shouting, “terror is all around!” Between the terror of the COVID-19 pandemic, the violence and injustice perpetrated against African people in this country, and extreme weather events, reading the news can be very terrifying these days. Jeremiah had reason to be afraid when he heard the whisperings of his powerful enemies. He also discovered that the best way he could continue doing the work God wanted him to do was to remember God’s presence with him as a “dread warrior.”

As Christians, we are not meant to bury our heads in the sand when things get frightening around us. On the other hand, when the news is particularly scary and anxiety-provoking, God just might be calling us to quit exposing ourselves to the whispers and shouts of terror. We may need to stop reading the newspaper for a while, stop checking social media, and stop refreshing the news website, so that we can listen to Someone Else who will speak words of hope, comfort, and assurance.

FOR ACTION:

What and who are the sources of your worries, anxieties, and fears these days? Decide how you can turn them off or at least turn them down some today.