The Lord is so good!
Life felt pretty stormy last week. You know those weeks. We all have them. Somehow our expectations don't line up with the reality of our situations and we become discouraged. My heart had grown impatient. I felt like the Lord had forgotten me. I was miserable.
Add to that the fact that we have been experiencing nearly constant rain... cold, gray days... When was the sun going to shine?
I know that the Lord is my Source but I had lost perspective. I turned to other comforts - that don't truly satisfy - and my time "with the Lord" was all about me. My complaints. My prescriptions. I was busy telling the Lord how I would do it if I were God, rather than settling in and receiving grace for the moment from the One who is faithful.
I still smile when I think of how the Lord got my attention. I had asked Him to wake me in the morning. He is the best "alarm clock"! My eyes opened early and peaked at the clock but the after effects from the sugar I had eaten the night before quickly closed them. A few minutes later they opened again. Almost. One more time and I was up. Oh, I'm so grateful for His persistence!
I made my way down the hall. As I came to a window, I was instantly awed by the most breath-taking sunrise! The whole sky was streaked with the most brilliant shades of peach and orange! It wasn't just a shading by the horizon - the whole sky had been transformed! I was overwhelmed by the beauty. I stood frozen and just basked in the gift!
The Lord knows how much I delight in a sunrise! It's my favorite view and my favorite time of day. I knew that He had painted it just for me and I worshipped Him. How could He be so gracious to me when I had hardly been a friend to Him those last few days? Can I tell you that tears are streaming down my cheeks as I write this? His grace still amazes me!
I went and sat down in my living room. I call it "our" spot - the Lord's and mine. It's where we sit together. We talked. He spoke and my focus was restored. He has absolutely mind-boggling power and He's at work in my circumstances. He hasn't forgotten. I can trust Him to be God.
I'd love to tell you that I got up at this point and walked in freedom and joy - but when I got up and looked out the window, I saw that once again the clouds had settled in and it looked like rain. "Oh, Lord!" I cried... not another gray day! But then I noticed something... behind the clouds was a faint white ball... the sun.
It was still shining as brilliantly behind the clouds. It's warmth was still heating the earth. It was still rising and setting... as instructed. It was still causing things to grow. The sun was doing "it's thing" and so was my Lord!
In the midst of my clouds, the Lord was still at work! I have been awed by His splendor before. I've seen His hand move in my circumstances. He's been growing me. Today was no different! What was I going to focus on ? The clouds? Or what I know to be true? He knows where I am. He knows what I need - better than I do. He is faithful. I can trust Him. He is God!
And by His grace, I walked free... singing in the rain!
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)
The Son still shines behind the clouds!
