Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. (Psalm 112:1)

Verse 7 of this Psalm says “He will not fear evil tidings” – the NIV says “He will have no fear of bad news.” This is right after David writes that “For he will never be shaken.”

Life is full of unexpected twists and turns, so how do we not be shaken or fear bad news? That’s all the news is anymore on TV – bad things happening all over the world, right?

So how do we have our heart set so that whatever we hear or learn of we won’t fear it? By being rooted and grounded not only in the Word but on the promises that the Word is based on. Our eternal destination is much more important than any setback we will encounter in this lifetime. Not if, but will – as this life WILL bring us heartaches and what the world considers bad news.

So in those moments the question we need to ask isn’t “Why, God would you allow this to happen?” but “Why, God? What is the lesson in this for me? Is my relationship with You still unshaken?”

Or as the old song said so well, ‘is it well with your soul?’ 1871 was the year of the great Chicago fire. One man who was particularly hard hit by the fire was a believer named Horatio Spafford as the fire wiped out all his holdings. This was not the first disaster to strike him and his wife. Only a short time earlier they had suffered the loss of their son, yet even worse was to come. Two years later, he decided to take his wife and four daughters to Europe on vacation planning to assist evangelist Dwight L. Moody, running an evangelistic campaign in Great Britain. But last minute business kept him home in Chicago. He sent his wife and children ahead on the ocean liner S.S. Ville du Havre. and then, tragedy struck. Halfway across the Atlantic, an English vessel rammed their ship and cut it in two. In the chaos that followed, Mrs. Spafford watched helplessly as her four daughters wore swept overboard to their deaths. Within just twelve minutes the ship had sunk. The rescued survivors were taken to Wales. From there Mrs. Spafford cabled the terrible news to her husband, who was awaiting news of his family’s fare. The cable consisted of just two words: “Saved alone.” Spafford immediately boarded the next ship and set off for Wales to be with his wife. As his ship approached the mid-Atlantic, he looked out over the billowing waves that had taken the lives of his beloved daughters. Inspired by the sight, Spafford wrote the words of his now famous hymn: “When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It Is well, It is well with my soul.”

I can only imagine the depth of the heartache that man must have felt in that moment, but he chose to keep his soul focused on God. I strive to do the same in the midst of life happening around me as well.

Only by staying focused on the immovable will we be unshakable.