Seeing God In The Blue
“I’m still a believer”
As a lot of people here in Oregon have experienced, the fires have been something that caused a lot of pain, loss, and destruction these past few days in September of 2020. The whole year just seems as though a Jenga piece is taken out of the Earth and we all feel the whole structure about the crumble.
I remember, a little while ago, seeing all of the fires in California and thinking that it was devastating what they were going through, but I never truly understood until this past weekend. I remember sitting on my bed, looking at twitter, while constantly checking out my window because the sky was turning orange. Suddenly the color of a dreamy sunset became my new nightmare.
With everything that seemed to be crashing down, and all of the talk of climate change being something to take seriously right now (which I fully believe), I found it very hard to find hope that all of the pain would end. I was crying and shaking almost every morning while driving to school and every night staring out my window because I did not seem to see an end to this madness in sight.
It was around the second day of the hazardous air quality that I talked to my mom about what I had been feeling. She told me that in the Bible, fire is destructive, yes, but it is also purifying. She said if it takes this fire for people to see that the quality of our planet is in danger, then that is a good outcome of these events. This was very reassuring to hear because there have been a lot of jokes going around campus that we were living in the “end times” as described in the book of Revelation.
Fast forward to Sept. 18, I’m halfway to school and I have my phone plugged into the radio. Right before I got to the edge of Dundee, I notice the song that was playing: “So They Say” by WeThree, and the chorus comes on
I guess I just can’t give in
when the world tells me no
I still feel it in my bones
Yeah this is our society
But I’m coming clean
I’m still a believer
Now, I have heard that song probably hundreds of times before, but it was in that moment, when those words were played, that I looked out the driver’s side window and noticed that we had blue skies again. My eyes started to fill with tears as I sang along because I felt so firm in my faith. It was as though God was telling me that no matter what happens in the world and how much pain we all go through, he will be there and he will provide and bring the good. Later that day it poured, and I’m not going to lie, it was very difficult to pay attention in my class when I could hear God’s goodness tapping on the window.
Here is a link to the song. I highly recommend listening to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFxqeU56ZBw