I’ve never like it when some one starts by saying, “Well, we’ve got some bad news and some good news. Which do you want first?” I’d say no to the bad news and “Yes, please” to the good. But I’ve discovered some of both about me.

First, the bad news is that I am not nearly as cured as I thought I was. I still fall back into old ways of thinking, those fears and doubts that are always nearby, waiting for a weakness in my defence to come in. I still have worst case senarios running through my mind and I still have fears that a particular friend is going to see me as I am and give up on me. The good news is that I am in the most capable Hands possible. I’m in the Hands of the Healer (to use the title of one of my favorite worship songs).

The bad news is that I can still think and say some rotten things. I can be completely selfish at times and hardly give a thought to God or His kingdom. I can put on a show and raise my hands in worship, all the while feeling numb inside. The good news is that Jesus has promised me that He will finish what He started in me and that I will one day look just like Him. And even on my worst days, I still catch glimpses of Jesus’ character being formed in me.

The bad news is that I am a sinner capable of anything you can imagine. I am no better than any rapist or murderer and it took as much of Jesus’ blood to cover me as it did them. The good news is that Jesus came to me. That He chose me and called me by my name and saved me. And that is the ultimate gospel, or good news, that trumps and bad news any day of the week.

Your bad news may look grim, but the good news is that God walks with you through your bad news and sees you come out on the other side more whole, more healed, and more like Jesus. He is not about to abandon you or give up on you. And that’s the best possible news you could have.

Amen and amen.