Disaster, With a Chance Of Rain.

One night I watched the news for a few minutes before bed, and felt so troubled afterward I wasn't sure I could sleep! Then I changed channels to check the weather forecast, and saw disasters happening around the world. Even when I avoid the news for awhile, I still hear heart wrenching stories from people around me, which add to my own worries. Yet I know the Lord wants me to love others, so how can I maintain faith and hope in the face of risks, disasters, and tragedies like we hear about each day? And how can I stop worrying when there is so much that can go wrong?

One way I interrupt troubled thoughts is to use this verse:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8 NIV. 

It helps to choose each word and think about something that fits that description. For example, can I think of something "admirable"?

Also I consider these 2 scriptures, and what they mean to me when read together:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 NIV

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 NIV

So I remind myself that God rewards those who earnestly seek him, and works in all things for the good of those who love him. When facing a bad situation, I say to myself "God will bring good out of this." Granted, thinking it does not always make me 'feel' the certainty I would like to! But as I begin to align my thinking with the scriptures I will see examples of it happen, then more faith will grow.

Why Some People Stop Believing

I recently watched a documentary about clergy people who are apostate, who formerly had faith but no longer believe in the supernatural aspect of Christianity - which of course means they no longer believe in God. Some continued to perform their clergy jobs in secret or defiance, others joined humanist or atheist movements, and some missed the fellowship of church life and started Sunday gatherings like church services without reference to God or the Bible. I watched this wary of deception, but curious about what caused their loss of faith.
One idea expressed was this: "If there is a loving God, why would He allow this ________________  (fill in blank with something awful witnessed or experienced) to happen? Since [awful things] happen, I don't believe in God." Their thinking had led them to judge God, rather than the other way around. Some chose a humanist view, believing in the value of fallible but visible humans, while God was blamed or dismissed for not stopping evil as if this were an evil in itself, or proof of non-existence.
I admit that when fears and horrors arise, it can be hard to sense that God is present or responding to prayer. And yet, I've never read a scripture that says "everything will be perfect on earth all the time, and by the good fortune of everyone there, you will know God exists." This is not heaven, it is earth! Rather than disproving God's existence, these actually prove EXACTLY what the Bible talks about - that sin exists. We are warned that man is sinful, and that other unseen evil forces are also at work here encouraging this.
I believe that God has the power to stop whatever He wants to. He created it all, and it is within His ability to end or control it all, or parts of it. Many times, for example, God intervenes and people are guided to safety*, or obstacles stop sinful acts from being carried out.
Other times He does not intervene, and far be it from me to presume to answer why. It could be that a greater good we don't know or appreciate will result from the event, or perhaps that God has built in certain bodily responses during trauma or dying that prevent it from being unbearable and unending, despite being frightening to witness.
I hope fear and disappointment never derail my faith (or yours). I hope that we pray often enough in good times that God's blessings strengthen our faith, so that when challenging times come the gratitude in our spirit does not give up to the doubts in our mind.

* Matthew 2:13 NIV [ The Escape to Egypt ] "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Psalm 14:1 NIV [ For the director of music. Of David. ] "The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good."

A Quiet, Vivid Dream

I awoke from an interesting dream one morning. I dreamt I was sitting in a library to write an exam for which I had not studied - a common theme of my dreams when I feel unprepared for what life involves at the time. The test had 4 small photos per row, which I was supposed to classify as showing N (nouns), V (verbs), or 2 other categories WW or EE.

I thought to myself "To finish faster, I will go through the whole page and identify the nouns first”. 

There seemed to be quite a few, and I decided before long that I should check what the other categories meant first. I discovered in the chapter before the test that WW meant "things that seem to be bad at first, then turn out to be good". EE represented "things that appear good, but then turn out to be bad". I now wished I had read the examples in the chapter to understand the pictures, but it was too late - the test was now, and time was limited.

At this point there was an interruption by someone in the dream whose comment reminded me it was recently the anniversary of my mother's passing, and implied that I was too old to have a mom anymore. I disliked both the interruption and the remark, so I decided not to call him later as I had been asked to do.

Returning to the exam, 4 pictures on the bottom row were now brief video clips of rain. One showed rain dripping on romaine lettuce leaves, and another rain falling into a puddle with brown leaves off a tree. I reasoned that rain might enable romaine leaves to stay fresh, which could be good. But what did rain falling on brown leaves mean? And with rain in all 4 frames, when was it a noun vs a verb? It became quite confusing, and I started to think this test could take more time than I had! So to work faster, I decided to think of examples, and then look for pictures of them on the test. 

I thought of peony plants: how ants that crawl on them may appear to be bad, yet are helpful for the flowers to open. I began to search for an image of a peony, then I awoke. Was there an interpretation to the dream?

Ecclesiastes 5:7 NIV tells us that "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless" so not every dream holds wisdom, but sometimes we do glean from them. The Bible verse I thought of was: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 NIV)

So like a riddle, the answer to the question in the dream "Will this turn out neutral, good or bad?" may lie in the answer to this: "It depends who is asking". If it is someone who loves God then all things, no matter how they seem, will be used for our good.