WORDLY WORRIES

2/6/10 Ice storms. Snow storms. Thunder storms. We have certainly been in a season of storms these last few weeks. Our sump pump has been “thumping” day and night. Our yard is still saturated from the most recent rain. Mommar, who is with us this weekend, really doesn’t like cold temps mixed in with soggy days. She’s longing for the sunshine. She wants to know if it’s ever coming. (She asks that question a lot.)

Just like our earthly weather, our lives have seasons of storms. We often wonder if they will ever end. Feeling “out of control," we began to worry. We lose hope for a better tomorrow. Many, I being chief among them, can begin worrying even before the storms come----approaching life with fear of what might happen tomorrow.

The sufferings of life are God’s winds. They are hurricanes taking us to higher levels…..when the storms of life appear, the atmosphere is changed, purified, filled with new life and part of heaven is brought down to earth. (Streams in the Desert, 2/4) Bring heavenly implications into your worldly worries.

The Israelites passed through the Red Sea and rejoiced. (Psalm 66:6) How many of us passing through a stormy season right now have already forgotten all the storms He has brought us through before? Focus on those times of seeing God’s goodness in the midst of the storm. Remember the relief and the rejoicing when you reached the other side. Remember that your hope is in Him. “I will only triumph in You once I have learned the radiance of the rain." (George Matheson) Find hope in the rain as well as the sunshine.

This past week I sent a card to a dear friend, recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Dayspring said it well. “Hope dances in the puddles ‘til the sun comes out again.”

Just like the weather, we can’t control those “givens” in our lives. What we do when facing them is our part. Acceptance. Hope. “Worry not” in the midst of life’s storms. Just keep dancing “til the sun comes out. ☺