When headlines feel heavy, what boundaries or habits keep you informed and at peace? Favorite verses or prayers you come back to?
anticipating the return of the king brings me great comfort. while I do bemoan all the suffering I know that victory will be so sweet
Philippians 4:6–7 helps me breathe when the headlines feel crushing.
“Do not be anxious about anything… but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
I limit how much news I take in each day, but I never limit how often I turn to the Lord. The world may shake, but He remains unshaken.
@ellenvera
Maybe I’m too simplistic, but the remedy for overload is to lessen the load.
- If a ship is overloaded, you don’t change the capacity limit sign, you unload some of the cargo.
- If an electrical circuit is overloaded, you don’t point a cooling fan at it, you pull some plugs.
- If a schedule is overloaded, you don’t post Philippians 4:13 on your wall, you cancel some obligations.
- If your mind is overloaded, you don’t counterbalance the unnecessary load with placations, you turn off the source of information.
I’m not accusing you of suggeasting otherwise; in fact., I’m not accusing anything at all. We have an accuser, and he sure does not need my help. I’m only trying to demonstrate the contrast between a common approach and a Godly one.
Principal 1. Fasting
The principal of “fasting” is not applicable only to food. Fasting, from any indulgence, recenters our minds on “dependance’, and “thanksgiving”. Fasting from food is a discipline that denies our mortal body something it absolutely needs for survival, bringing it into subjection, reminding ourselves that our sustenance is in God alone. Fasting from “the media / news” is just wisely rejecting something that is actively destroying you anyway. We may want to know about that plane crash half-way around the world, we may want to “feel involved” by indulging reports of political maneuvering and contention, we may be entertained by biased accounts of social upheaval, or speculations of criminal undertakings, but none of these things are attached to the light yoke of Jesus.
Principal 2: Discernment
One may assume 30% - 80% of what you hear from the media is true; (no one actually thinks it is any higher than that). If the news were food, that’s like saying 30% - 80% of what is in that stew is edible. Now enjoy. Even knowing that, we are still somehow compelled to consume it. Either we fear missing out on a meal, or we feel guilty or ashamed for being uninformed, or we applaud ourselves that we are "not as bad” as those on the news, or we placate the little, red, pitchfork wielding, demon on our left shoulder who encourages us to being “entertained” by witnessing the worst of mankind, or the tragedies of others. All of these enticing reasons deserve to be harshly silenced; coldly neutralized, and boldly subjected to the truth.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”2 Corinthians 10:3-6
In this particular confrontation, (listening to the media) I encourage us to think about the “weapons of warfare” we have been given – what are the “carnal” weapons that we may be frequently using, and why God would have us switch to use His weapons that are “mighty in God”.
“Pulling down strongholds” is not debating entrenched error with carnal counter-argumentation, but employing the indefensible spiritual weapons to decisively accomplish stronghold destruction.
“Casting down arguments” does not mean attending their lectures, or patronizing for their platform, it means stopping their voice; “kathairéō” means to “take away”, “remove their power”, “utterly destroy”, or “silence their voice”.
“Bringing every thought captive” does not mean listen to them, or argue with them, but to imprison them; “aichmalōtízō” means to “subdue”, and “bring into subjection”.
If anyone is still unsure what “weapons” Paul says we have been given to use, I implore you to ASK Jesus to retrain you on their use. Return to basic training. Enlist for weapons training, and then submit wholly to your trainer. I am not your training officer, but I sure am here to help, or to spar with if need be.
In the trenches with you.
KP
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