There’s no good time for bad news

Bad news. Sometimes it’s a phone call. Other times you hear it directly. Once I hear the news, my mind races to categorize it. Life threatening. Challenging. Temporary. Sometimes it also falls into these categories: Untimely. Unfair. And isn’t bad news always Unwanted?

This time the news was all of those things. Someone in their prime who chose to live a life for others now has an inoperable tumor. Life threatening, yes. Challenging, yes. Temporary, yes—for him. For his family, it’s going to last their lifetimes.

It’s also Untimely, Unfair and Unwanted.

In my rabid sense of trying to figure things out, I know I could supply God with plenty of other names for potential tumor victims. God doesn’t need these thoughts, but He understands me.

Unless God chooses to perform a miracle, the verdict is sealed. The difference between my friend and me is that he knows how his story ends. I'm still busy making my own plans.

I wake up with my plans. I like circling dates in the future. I plan for holidays, vacations, and joy. I don’t plan for misfortune.



God knows what I don't want to have happen, but he’ll be there even in my darkest parts.

My friend knows he’ll leave behind a young wife and kids. This must slice the deepest.

 But this is where I draw my single comfort in his dire prognosis. He knows they will not be left without Jesus. They will have what they need. My friend trusts God's promise.




Knowing that, he’s facing the final leg of his journey with full confidence. 

I'm still sad. And I know I’ll miss him. I'm thankful his legacy of living for others included me. The best thing I can do with my hurting feelings is to use them for good like he taught me to do. Healing my hurting heart begins when I reach out of my own self.

I still don't like bad news and this kind will always be the worst. But I intend to make some good out of it, because that is what my friend would want most.

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