This uplifting message is being brought to you by something good. I almost missed it because I was reading today’s headlines. I’m conditioned to focus on bad news. I like to discuss it with others, which amplifies bad news. Any improvement in my attitude depends on seeing something good. There is a lot of good out there if we remember to notice it. “Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands. The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight. Your builders are faster than your wreckers” (Isaiah 49:16,17 MSG).

Because sin tears down so much in our world, we are always rebuilding something. All of the rebuilding is under the supervision of God, whose arms are stretched over us to protect us and bless us. The rebuilding is in the hands of younger people who grew up hearing us gripe about misfortune but were quietly preparing for a better life for themselves. They should never be held captive to our burdens. We must not confine them to our grief or low expectations. God wants them to have their shot at happiness, hope, and a future. 

When a remnant of God’s chosen ones was overwhelmed trying to rebuild everything, God told them to notice something good. Young constructive people outnumbered and outworked negative people who tried to tear it all down. He said that’s how “you’ll know then that I am God. No one who hopes in me ever regrets it” (Isaiah 49:23 MSG).