What’s your source?

At the mention of pandemics and army building nations, anxiety stirs and dread settles like a rock in my gut.  My fears are not always alleviated by the media, who in the pursuit of news stories; or should I say new stories, feed these fears and a sense of powerlessness.  Even without the news, I am very capable of building doomsday scenarios and conspiracy theories in my mind and conversation. 

I have been working hard to make my mind my friend this week. I have sometimes been ruthless in my conversations, asking people who or what was their source of information.  I wanted facts not interpretation.

When I first started teaching history studies to high schoolers over ten years ago, I spent a whole lesson explaining the importance of knowing your source.  A primary source is a first-hand account while a secondary source is usually based on the firsthand account. Facts are different to opinions. And just because it is on the internet, does not make it is true!  Know your source, I would say to my students.  Of course, not all of us are privileged to have a firsthand account of events, so we rely on credible witnesses, who were present. 

The Prophet Isaiah lived through a time of impending invasion by some serious marauders, some 2,700 years ago. He wrote about it and that is recorded in the Bible.  He witnessed people all around him being fearful, believing conspiracy theories and living with dread.  His God spoke to him and told him not to fear what they feared, but rather fear God himself. It was a time where people would rather consult the dead or spiritists, instead of inquiring of God himself and his law and testimony.  And yet, when things went wrong, they would be the first to curse God -and their country’s leader! (Isaiah 8) 

For those of us that believe in a God that is far greater than our earthly fears, I ask you how seriously do you fear God himself?   Do you seek Him as your primary source of reassurance and wisdom?  Do you regard Him as truly holy?  Do you spend as much time reading the Bible as you spend watching the news or scrolling through social media? 

As we approach the Easter weekend, a Christian religious holiday remembering the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, let us remember that the same Spirit that raised him from the dead also gives life to our mortal bodies. (Romans 8:11) And believers, that is the same Spirit that lives in us today!

I am not going to stop watching the news or ignore what is happening in the world around me.  As hard work as it is at times, I plan to seek out the facts and respond accordingly.  But I am not going to live in fear of what might happen either. It is enough to fear the living God; the one who raised Jesus from the dead. I want to seek Him as my primary source of assurance and sanctuary, for without Him this world is filled with distress, darkness and gloom.

Photo by Elijah O’Donnell on unsplash.com