Good News About Bad News
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. - 2 Corinthians 4:1-2
No one’s a stranger, or a welcome recipient of bad news. Yet listen to Bill Gates’ wise take on bad news in his book Business @ the Speed of Thought:
“You have to be constantly receptive to bad news, and then you have to act on it. Sometimes I think my most important job as CEO is to listen to bad news. [But] if you don’t act on it, your people will eventually stop bringing bad news to your attention. And that’s the beginning of the end. The willingness to hear hard truth is vital not only for the CEOs of big corporations but also for anyone who loves the truth. Sometimes the truth sounds like bad news, but it is just what we need.”
I’ve learned that bad news usually contains a redemptive element - It’s important that we don’t respond to it with avoidance and denial but work through it.
“Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.” - Colin Powell (1937- )
To purchase Devotionals or other New Life resources please click here
Taken from The Life Recovery Devotional: Thirty Meditations from Scripture for Each Step in Recovery by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. Copyright © 1991 by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
