Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
2 Kings 20:16-19

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Have you stopped noticing breaking news? Certainly, the stream of clickbait headlines, sensationalism, and media wars are endlessly annoying. Every channel works its angle. Every source sounds biased. Every spokesperson’s character is in question. I’m not saying this is true, but it can certainly feel this way. It’s hard to notice and care about our world with sirens constantly going off about local crimes, national tragedies and international conflicts. Peace sounds farfetched, so why not plug our ears and disengage our hearts?

Throughout the Old Testament, God spoke through prophets like Isaiah to reset His people’s priorities. God sent breaking news—sometimes about current events, but more often about future realities—so leaders would live and love in step with heaven while walking on earth. When good King Hezekiah stepped in to rule at age 25, he had no idea what the next 29 years would be like. But the Lord did, and He sent Isaiah with an early warning to open the king’s heart toward future generations. With unavoidable pain and struggle on the horizon for God’s people, Hezekiah still did what most of us do. He selfishly dismissed the breaking news of others’ devastation in favor of his peaceful security at home today.

Wars, famine, catastrophes, homelessness, trafficking, and abuses of all kinds may seem far away to you and me. It is common to give up on breaking news, especially when it’s hard to hear. But the Holy Spirit wants the conflict far from you to grow closer to your heart as an extension of God’s grace. It is impossible for us to respond to every headline or issue that scrolls by. However, just because someone else’s experience of evil doesn’t affect us directly doesn’t mean the Lord won’t call us to engage in some way.

Breaking news is our invitation to be curious, to learn, to care, to pray, to serve, to give, to love. So, let us not give up on paying attention to what’s going on far from us. I believe the Lord will guide us to discerningly notice and step in to join Him in bringing heaven to earth.

Next Steps

What conflict or disaster in our world are you tired of hearing about? Instead of giving up on breaking news, are you open to the Lord turning your resistance into an opportunity to learn and love? Be vulnerable with a trusted friend by discussing today’s devotion, what God’s teaching you, and how you want to engage differently with conflict far from you.