Just the other morning I brought my lovely wife a cup of coffee in bed. As she sat up to receive the warm mug of joe, I looked lovingly into her eyes, smiled, and said, “Do NOT look at the news!”

It’s obvious to me (now) why this was such a dumb thing to say. Rather than preserving her peaceful mood as I intended, she grew worried and said, “Why? What happened!?” and immediately popped open the news app on her phone.

The specific news item which precipitated this exchange is irrelevant. You can find ten stories that are just as bad, or worse, any morning. It’s hardly even a metaphor to say that “the world is on fire.” And every politician claims it’s all “going to he🏒🏒” unless I vote for him. So, yeah, do NOT look at the news this morning!

But just in case you have the same reaction as my wife, here 3 suggestions to improve your emotional resilience around this (or any) morning’s news:

1 Acceptance. When Jesus said, “You will have suffering in this world,” he wasn’t joking. Things are hard out there! And we have no control over the vast majority of it all. So take a deep breath and let it go. It’s not your responsibility to fix the whole world, or the country, or your town, or your friends (or even yourself really). Remember, Jesus also said, “Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

2 Perspective. Think about it, next week will you care about whatever just happened in the news? Next year? Next millenia when you are dead to this world but fully alive to Christ?

Jesus is writing the story of this universe, and you are his beloved. I don’t know exactly how he will fix it all. But if he can turn his own crucifixion into a glorious proclamation of love and forgiveness for all, surely he can handle a little world crisis or two—in his time.

3 Connection. With a little faith-full acceptance and perspective, you are free to connect with others. You are not obligated to fix the world or even your friends, so you are free to love them compassionately.

Can you help your friend? Can you make something better in your community? Then do so, but without the stress and strain of needing to. Incidentally, you’ll be a lot more effective at putting good into this world if you do it out of love instead of fear and obligation.