How the One can offer a pathway to peace

IN September, the word “doomscrolling” was included for the first time in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

They defined it as “to spend excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc”.

Whether we are an avid smartphone user or prefer more traditional television, the word names what many of us experience: a seemingly unending stream of bitesize content, exposing us to what is bad in the world.

This may be footage of bombs dropping and people displaced; a new study throwing a light on our current mental health crisis, or a clip of a politician saying things that make our blood boil.

It may come as an unending stream on a 24-hour news channel. It may be the unending scroll of our Facebook newsfeed or our YouTube video recommendations.

But whatever our source, there is a seemingly never-ending supply of anxiety-inducing input.

We may be distracted for a moment by a would-you-believeit human interest story; an amusing video of someone’s misbehaving pets, or a cartoon strip that raises a smile.

But those problems haven’t gone away and the anxiety still builds in our mind. We worry about where the world is headed.

We feel powerlessness in the face of situations too big for even our world’s leaders to untangle, let alone for us to feel like we have an impact.

Some have taken to avoiding news sources all-together. Switching off the news channel. Avoiding the news apps.

But most of us want to remain engaged with the world. To make a difference in our own small way. We want to know what is happening but quickly feel overwhelmed.

In the Bible we are offered a relationship with One who is big enough to handle these things.

In Philippians Chapter 4, Verses 6 and 7, early Christian preacher Paul says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The Bible doesn’t downplay our anxieties and worries, pretending

they are things we can simply “switch off”.

Many of us know from our experience that we cannot. Instead, we are invited to bring those fears and entrust them into the hands of the One who is big enough to hold them. The creator of the world is the One with the power and wisdom to handle those things we know are so far beyond us.

The Bible never promises that prayer will give you an inside track on how God will handle it. Instead it is a pathway to peace, built not on our understanding but who we are praying to. The invitation of churches, our town and villages, is to come and know this God with hands big enough to handle our fears.

The Rev Tom Brown, minister,

St John’s Church, Hinckley