It rained, and it rained.  After forty days and nights, water was all that could be seen- threatening and deep.  The Deluge.

Many times, I have looked out the windows of my soul and seen nothing but danger and the unknown.  Would the floods of doubt ever recede?  It’s hard to imagine that they will after weeks of violent storms.  The thing about deep water is that you don’t know what’s down there.  The fear of the unknown can be worse than the assault of a seen enemy, however fierce.

Most folks I know have been there.  Rolling in the deep.  Truthfully, I believe everyone I know has been there, but many won’t admit it.  I don’t blame them.  It’s not easy to admit being afraid- even to yourself.  Less so to other people.

It’s hard to really understand someone else’s burdens; we get so wrapped up in our own.  That’s true of all of us, so the hurting hurt alone ashamed of their weakness.  Laboring and heavy-laden with nowhere to go.

The God who made the waters rise also made the waters recede when they had accomplished His purpose.  It is undoubtedly true that difficulty works life traits that are lacking in the bright sun.  Sometimes, the sky must cloud over, the thunder crash and torrents fall for us to know that Someone Else is in control.  God’s plan in the great flood was not to destroy people as much as it was to restore faith.  God will go to great lengths to keep His truth alive.

The longest night of winter must give way to the rising sun, and there is always an end to trouble and fear.  Foremost among prohibitions in the New Testament to fall from Jesus’ lips was, “Fear not.”

I try to convince myself of the urging I give others, but it’s easier to say trust than to live trust.  If we learn the lessons of trials, it may not be necessary for God to work the same way in our lives again.  But, that’s an “if,” and many of us revisit painful circumstances.  

When the skies clear, we find that tribulations leave things of beauty that would not exist otherwise.  God directed Noah to the rainbow as a remembrance of His severity and salvation.  Both were in the judgment, and we find both in our lives today.  Sometimes, the rainbow is in the cloud, as Ezekiel said, with concurrent burdens and beauties.  Both are parts of God’s redemptive and restorative plan established in eternity past.

When we look down, we fear because we see uncertainty and doubt.  When we look up, we see the promises of God.  It is difficult to “keep your chin up” in turmoil.  However, if we can manage it, we might see redemption afar.  Even in times of desolation.

Your life may be filled with shadow today, but tomorrow may bring a difference.  God once destroyed all that was, but there was a new day for those who found grace through faith.

Many things in our lives may be washed away by the gulfs of time, but they may need to be.  God is bent on construction, not destruction.  There’s a rainbow above you.  Lift up your head.

We will not know what God is doing in or through our lives until they are accomplished.  Then wonder begins, and we accept in gratitude what we could not have foreseen.

Sterl