Looking Up When Things Are Down

July 26, 2026

There is a new word rising to the surface of our society, and that word is doomerism. It means an obsessive worry about the bad things that are going on around us. Lying around in the hospital for nearly a week, I saw plenty of negative news reports, and I can see how people could really get very alarmed by all the happenings around us. Someone once asked me how they could remove some of the stress in their life, and I told them to turn off the TV.  I still stand by that statement, but I also acknowledge there is no way to escape hearing about some of the awful events going on around the world. So, how do we, as Christ followers, keep from getting caught up in the doomerism that sometimes threatens to choke us? May I offer four suggestions?

First, remember that it has always been bad. In the book of Genesis, God tells us that in Noah’s day, every thought of man was evil continually. Noah lived a long time ago, and the phrase “every thought” is very specific. The world has always been bad. This world has seen world wars, plagues, and diseases. Remember reading about the black plague of Europe in the mid 1300’s? Fifty percent of Europe’s population was killed. Or, more recently, the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918-1920 with estimates of nearly 100 million people killed. Never mind all the wars that have occurred since the dawn of time, and the catastrophic natural disasters that have occurred. Today we have computers that give us worldwide news in an instant, making it seem that our society is the worst in human history. It has always been this bad, we just have more technology today to inform us of all that is happening around the world. Second, even though things are bad, God is still in control. The prophet Habakkuk tells us that “God is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before Him.” Even though fifty percent of Europe's population died in the Black Plague, fifty percent didn’t. In Noah’s day, everybody and everything outside the ark died. But those inside the ark didn’t. God’s hand still controls the events of this world. All of them, bad or good. Thinking of Noah, that leads me to my third anti-doomerism suggestion. Remember the rainbow. With all the rain we have had recently, I have enjoyed seeing several rainbows. For Christ followers, the rainbow should help us remember that God is in control. Finally, look forward to the new heavens and earth. One day, the earth and all that live in it will be plunged into the great tribulation. Whether our times signal the birth pangs of these events, I don’t know (see suggestion number 1). But the final event on the earth’s calendar is a massive fire that will burn up this world. Then, God will create new heavens and a new earth. Free from the curse of sin that is the origin of all these bad things to begin with. My brothers and sisters, turn off the TV more often and keep your minds on the rainbow and the new heaven and earth. We will enjoy them forever, one day.

Be Blessed and then go be a Blessing . . . Bro Andy