This Is How To Receive Bad News.

Josh. 2:11 -  “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained…”

In the text above, Rahab is confessing to the two spies sent into Jericho by Joshua exactly how they felt upon hearing the news that the Israelites were coming. She informs them that their hearts melted and no courage remained in any of them.

• Has Your Heart Ever Melted?

What have you ever heard that has caused your heart to melt and your courage departed from within you?

Maybe you walked into a doctor’s office and while sitting there he informed you that you had a disease or a loved one you had accompanied into his office had a disease and upon hearing the news your heart melted within you.

Maybe you received a visit from a police officer and informed you, a loved one died in an accident and your heart melted within and all your courage departed.

Or maybe it was the time one of your children was lost at the amusement park and for over an hour you know your heart stopped.

• David Received His Bad News, Twice.

When I think of receiving bad news, I always think of a young man named David. I met him years ago doing a marriage ceremony for a member of his immediate family. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life.

We were talking after the ceremony and he asked if he could come into my office and talk to me. I agreed and he came in the next week and shared with me what was going on in his life.

David told me that his doctor informed him he had a very aggressive type of cancer and that he didn’t have long to live. Then he went on with his story.

He came home and told his wife what the doctor said. Within days he came home and found a note from his wife that she was leaving him.

He said he checked their bedroom closet and all her clothes were gone. He said, “My heart sank.” In Rahab’s day they said, “Hearts melted.” The meaning is the same and that is: what you are about to experience is going to be extremely painful.

WOW!

What a punch in the gut and a knee to the face. You talk about your heart melting and all courage departing from within you. 

• How Does One Move Forward?

So what did David do?

The same thing Rahab did and that is he put his faith in the God of Heaven and Earth. Here is what Rahab said, “for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

She confessed that the Israelites' God was the true God.  David confessed Jesus to be his Lord and Savior and I baptized him into Christ. 

When you get knocked off your feet, and you are laying flat on your back, you are in the perfect position to look up and see where your help will come. Your help will come from the One who created the ‘heavens and earth."

David’s wife never came back and he lost his battle with cancer but I never met a more courageous man. I truly met one of God’s Special Warriors. 

• What To Do When Your Bad News Comes

One of these days we may receive some bad news. Hopefully, it won’t be as bad as David’s, but if you live long enough you almost always receive some type of news that makes your heart melt and all your courage flee.

What we have to do is follow in the footsteps of Rahab and David and that is put your faith in God.

Here is what the Hebrew writer says about Rahab, “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.”

By Faith in Jesus Christ you and I will not perish along with those who are disobedient.

• Think on These:

God cares for people through people.

The trouble with some people is that during trying times, they stop trying.

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word

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