How to weather the pop-up storms of life
Psalm 55:8
“I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”
After a week of rain I couldn’t wait to get outside and run. I didn’t care how fast or far I went. I didn’t care what was on the schedule after the run. I just wanted to soak in every ounce of sunshine bearing down on me.
I took note of every touch of God along that trail. The helicopters that fell from trees, watching their spinning descent with a smile in my heart. I crossed the wooden bridge normally sheltering dry rocks. Water rushed a soothing song under those wooden planks.
It felt good to run, to breathe hard – to notice my breathing. To take notice of the automatics in my life.
I couldn’t help but realize how different my mood and mindset were from the previous week. I felt alive and aware of God again. In the rainy days, darkness, cold, and wet are all I could see at times. I knew the sun would shine again, but it didn’t change my weather matching mood.
The morning progressed, the sun shone brighter, the air grew warmer. I began to sense God’s Presence again. It never left me during the rainy days, I just stopped looking for Him, I stopped noticing. Now that everything is bright, I can see Him again. Praise was on my lips. My heart poured out to Him all the ways I see Him and all the ways I’m thankful.
I walked in my door lighter than when I left. I brewed some coffee, sat to write, and I heard the thunder. I looked out the window and watched as in the span of 20 seconds darkness fell again. The thunder boomed, the rain poured, and I immediately felt the wave of “Oh no, not more….” wash over me. All the praise and thanksgiving I easily offered moments before dissipated.
As quick as the storm rolled in, it rolled back out. The sun shone, the birds chirped, and I sat in silence.
Some rainy days last longer than others. Some are pop up showers that come and go, offering refreshment and an awakening. Some flood our hearts, and we long to see the sun again. In them all, He is always there. We just find it easier to see Him when the world looks bright around us.
I wonder how often I’ve missed some of the most intimate moments of my life during the rainy season. How often I’ve longed to see the sun rather than delighting in Him under His umbrella for my storm. What I’ve missed by not soaking in the rain that washes over me but can’t wash me away from Him?
On the other side of darkness, a new perspective is easy.
Lord, give me that kind of perspective when the rain seems it will never end. Let me be so in tuned to your Presence that I can hold your hand under the shelter from the rain, knowing you are with me, and knowing one day, I will see the sun again.
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