Posted May 20, 2026
I am writing this week about finding hope in surprising places. Today, we’ll consider the most surprising place of all.
To set the context: At this writing, at least 136 people have died in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but health officials say the number could be much higher. The director general of the World Health Organization said he is “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic,” which is being caused by a type of Ebola for which there are no vaccines or treatments.
The virus is not airborne but is highly contagious through direct contact with bodily fluids. Its later symptoms are terrifying, with internal bleeding, multi-organ failure, severe dehydration, and cardiovascular collapse leading to death. An American doctor in Congo is among the newly confirmed cases of the virus.
Reading bad news can steal your hope:
The good news is that there is a way to navigate bad news with the best news of all.
Following World War II and the advent of television, companies began persuading people to become consumers of their products on a scale never before seen. Consumer spending now accounts for 68 percent of the total US Gross Domestic Product.
Consumerism wants us to aspire to get more, while our performance-based society wants us to aspire to do more, confusing what we are with who we are.
By contrast, Paul instructed the Thessalonian Christians, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” (1 Thessalonians 4:11a NIV). Make it your ambition translates a Greek word meaning to “aspire to” or “strive earnestly for.” To lead a quiet life means to be calm, peaceful, and serene. The Greek tense indicates a continuous choice that becomes an ongoing lifestyle.
How do we do this?
The second phrase explains the first: “You should mind your own business and work with your hands” (v. 11b). This did not mean that they were not to share the gospel boldly, a commitment to which the Scriptures continually call God’s people (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5). Nor did it mean that they were to withdraw from society; Jesus called us “salt” and “light,” but both must contact that which they are to influence (Matthew 5:13–16).
To mind your own business in the Greek means to accomplish the work and purposes pertaining to your life; to work with your hands reminds us that we have a calling unique to us, one we are designed and equipped to fulfill.
Taken together, the verse instructs us to prioritize peace and serenity in a complex and conflicted world by doing what God has called us to do and leaving the rest to him.
Let’s apply Paul’s wisdom to today’s news.
Our home was in the area of severe weather yesterday, so Janet and I “worked with our hands” to take necessary precautions. I could do nothing so practical in responding to any of the other news I listed earlier. But I can intercede for those affected, asking God to mobilize people able to serve those in need and to do what only he can do.
Then I can leave what I cannot change with him and continue working to change what I can.
This, then, becomes my version of the famous Serenity Prayer:
“Lord, give me the courage to change the things I should, the faith to trust the rest to you, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
In such wisdom lies our peace.
Nothing is so frustrating as having responsibility without authority, feeling the need to change what we have no capacity to change. This leads to escalating stress in our souls and declining faith in our Lord. We might even agree with Shunryu Suzuki’s claim that “life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.”
But when we place our hope in the living Lord Jesus, the most frightening news of the day becomes an invitation to trust his redemptive omnipotence and then work as he works. The more violently the storm rages, the more transforming his peace becomes.
And in the worst days and places, when we sing hymns in prison at midnight, then the other prisoners will hear us, the foundations of our prison will shake, and our jailer may even come to Christ (Acts 16:25–34).
What prison needs your praise today?
“Pray, and let God worry.” —Martin Luther
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