Waiting for the storm to pass...

Yesterday morning, I was sitting in my sister's screened in porch and I noticed something different...the sky was divided. One side, bright sunshine...one side, raining. A clear line divided the two. I've never seen that before!

This made me think. It made me think how we all have times of sunshine and times of storm. Often, sunshine is linked to happiness and storms are referred too as bad times. 

Reality of it is, we will never experience sunshine 24/7 nor we will experience storms 24/7 (yay!). The weather is always changing. It's always moving. Let's step away from the literal thought and relate it to our actual lives. 

I'm sure you have a faced a "storm" or two in your life, right? I know I have. So what do you do when it's storming? Do you hide under a blanket and wait for it to pass? Do you do something about it? 

Just like if we were to face an "actual" storm for days, it's often hard to get everything we need to do, done. We may face some challenges like slower traffic on our way to work, football games cancelled, power outages...and more. When these difficult things happen, do our lives stop? No. They continue. It may be hard...it may not be enjoyable..it may change our plans, but life keeps going and the sun always comes out. 

Instead of shutting down when a storm comes our way, we have to continue to trust in God. We can't throw in the towel. We have to remember that His mercies are new each morning. Lamentations 3:23 says, "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." 

Instead of giving up, find the good in the storm. Just like in an "actual" rainstorm, it may push us to slow down. I don't know about you, but I love to cuddle up on the couch with a book during a storm. Rainstorms can force us to slow down from our busy lives and rest (which is a good thing!). Also, rainstorms nourish the land. So just like an "actual" storm, we should let our "spiritual storms" grow us too. It may not be our ideal experience, but God wants every season in our lives to bring us closer to Him. Use God as your safe place. Deuteronomy 33:27 says, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." 

Be thankful for the storms because they grow you and be thankful for the sun because it strengthens you for the next rainstorm. Be thankful at all times for there is a season for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." 

What helps you get through the storms in your life?