FOBN: Fear of Bad News

You’ve likely heard of FOMO- “fear of missing out.” But FOBN- “fear of bad news,” is FOMO’s much less talked about second cousin. Do you suffer from FOBN? Take a minute to reflect on your actions and reactions over the past month- which has been filled with plenty of bad news. How have you handled everything? Maybe you weren’t one of those people buying toilet paper in bulk… but has the thought of your loved ones getting sick consumed you? Are you panicking over the possibility of losing your job? Are you worried about finances? Are you stressed out over the thought of social distancing for another month or your kids not going back to school? Have you been afraid to give or stopped giving entirely to your local church or charity because you’re afraid of what the future holds? In general, do you just feel the doom and gloom setting in? Most of these reactions are what we call “normal” right now because if we’re honest, we’ve accepted the fear of bad news as a normal part of society. But Psalm 112 describes a different way of living.

“He is not afraid of bad news,” verse 7 says, “His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” Notice this does not say that bad news does not come for him- just that he is not afraid of it. Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says, “It is not any native courage or resolution; it is not any firmness of his own; it is simply because he has confidence in God, and feels assured that all things will be well.” The one who fears the Lord has no reason to fear anything else. He knows that his help comes from the Lord and is confident that God will care for him. He has not placed his trust in his finances, health, possessions, etc. He trusts in God with his whole heart and because of that, he is not shaken by bad news.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Yeah sure, that sounds great, but trusting God is much easier said than done.” You’re right! But the description of the righteous man in Psalm 112 gives us three practices to help grow your trust in God.

Spend Time in the Light

Psalm 112 starts off with, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!” Fear of God means to deeply revere, respect, or live in submission to him. Delighting in God’s commandments at that time would likely mean that this person takes joy in living according to God’s Old Testament law. We can compare this to someone who regularly spends time reading the Bible and living it out.

If you’re struggling with the fear of bad news, the best place to start is spending more time with God by reading the Bible. How can you trust someone if you don’t spend time with them? The psalms are a great place to start reading in the midst of a hard time as they show you how to pray open and honest prayers and have conversations with God. Are you mad at God right now? It’s okay to tell him that. Your honesty won’t hurt his feelings. He already knows what’s in your heart. He would rather hear it from you than have you walk away from him because of it. As you read the psalms, you will see that God allows us to “get in the ring” with him and work things out. As you read more of his word, you will also begin to see his consistency and faithfulness. You will realize that the same God that came through for the Israelites and many others in the Bible will come through for you too. If you’re struggling with all the bad news, or even struggling with your feelings towards God, open up your Bible and talk to him about it. As you spend time in the light, you will begin to develop a trusting relationship with God.

Look for the Light

Psalm 112:4 says, “Light dawns in the darkness for the upright.” Again, notice it doesn’t say, “It will be sunshine and rainbows all the time for the upright.” Times of darkness come for the upright too. But even in the darkest times, the upright are able to look to God for hope and, in doing so, find light. In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry says, “In the darkest hours of affliction and trial, the light of hope and peace will spring up within them, and seasonable relief shall turn mourning into joy.” There is light in the darkness for the upright, not because the darkness has left them, but because God is their source of light, not their circumstances. If you’re struggling with the fear of bad news today, look for the light that is beyond yourself. When something feels too heavy for you to deal with, pray and ask God to carry the burden for you. Seek out wise counsel from other believers and people that can pray for you. Look for God’s promises in scripture and cling to them as truth. Look for the light that is beyond yourself.

Be the Light

The last notable trait of the righteous man described in Psalm 112 is his generosity. Verse 5 says, “It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.” And verse 9 says, “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor…” Many commentators believe the man described in this psalm develops these giving traits as a result of the affliction he endured. Because he suffered and had little, it made him more aware of the importance of giving to others. As the light dawned in the darkness for him, it gave him a desire to be the light for others as well.

During hard times, it’s easy to stop giving because you’re afraid of not even having enough for yourself. But if you’re operating in the trust that God will provide for you, you will continue to give generously as you did before, maybe even more generously than before. As you step out in faith and give sacrificially as Jesus did, I believe that you will see that God will continue to care and provide for you and through that you will find that you have peace even in the midst of hard times. To overcome the fear of bad news and strengthen your trust in God, step out in faith and be the light to someone else.

Our society has normalized the fear of bad news, in some ways it thrives on it. But God wants us to overcome that fear and trust him in all circumstances. It is possible, even in these hard times, to be at peace and overcome the “FOBN” by spending time in the light, looking to the light, and being the light.

When I started writing this about a week ago, I didn’t think I suffered with FOBN too much. I felt like I did pretty well at trusting God with hard times more so than not. But this morning, I woke up to a phone call from my realtor saying that a tree fell on the roof that I had JUST paid the $1300 deductible to replace about two months ago. I will likely have to pay another $1300 deductible to have the damages repaired on a house that was supposed to sell last week that I’ve been trying to sell for close to a year, a house that I only actually lived in for about six months.

Today, I found myself dealing with the fear of bad news and honestly, a lot of frustration towards God. All day I meant to pick up my Bible to do my daily devotions, but I kept managing to avoid him by finding other things to do. Finally, tonight, I sat down and picked up my prayer journal and I got in the ring with God. "If you can split the sea and calm the storm, why couldn’t you keep that tree off my roof!? After all I have been through in the past year, when will it be enough?! How much longer, Lord? When does this mess work out for my good?” I didn’t get any answers. But I also didn’t get struck by lightning for being honest with God. And I felt a lot better once I talked to him about the feelings he already knew I was having. I did get a reminder in Psalm 124:8, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” There in the scriptures I found a little bit of light that was beyond what I had in myself that helped me to remember to trust God with a frustrating situation. So I guess my next step is to go and be light…

How will you overcome FOBN this week?