SUDDEN STORMS
A short time ago I had the privilege of holding a book signing at a local book store. The afternoon was going along just fine; I had the pleasure of enjoying the company of my daughter who was visiting from another province. We sat together chatting when I happened to look outside and see the trees bending practically all the way to the ground. The next thing I heard was the rattling of the roof. Since it wasn’t Christmas Eve I knew it couldn’t be eight tiny reindeer! It had to be quite a storm out there.
Suddenly, without the telltale warning flickers the entire interior of the building was plunged into darkness! Luckily my table was set up near the door so what was left of the daylight found it’s way in to us. Without power, of course, the store was unable to operate, however customers continued to browse where there was a bit of light.
Have you ever been in a place in your life where things seemed to be sailing along smoothly when suddenly, without warning you were blindsided by the ‘storm of your life’? Times like that can be devastating, knocking the wind out of your chest and leaving you gasping for air!
Nine years ago I found myself in a similar situation. My husband of thirty four years had just received the third cancer diagnosis and for the first time since the first diagnosis fourteen years earlier, he was actually ill and losing the good health he had been enjoying for many years. We were at a good place in our lives. Recent empty nesters, we had plans and goals and were excited about the years to come. We lived near half of our grandchildren, enjoying regular visits with them and looked forward to watching them grow and become all that God intended them to be.
Then it hit! The blackness descended and we nearly lost our balance as we struggled to get back on our feet again. It was here and now that we began to understand, experientially what the scripture says in Deuteronomy 33:27, ‘The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms’; and in Psalm 30:5, ‘Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.’
Yes, we were definitely in the night, as dark as it was; all we could do was apply what we knew of our loving God to our hearts and hang on to the hope that joy would come again.
I can tell you now that joy did come, for me as I continued to lean hard on the ‘everlasting arms’ that forever held me up, and for my husband when early one morning he slipped out of his pain-wracked body into everlasting joy and peace! Now he lives in perpetual celebration with the One, our Lord, who made it all possible.
One day we will all reach the end of our respective journeys and there we will join in the celebration. Until then, storms may come, but as for me I will hang on to God’s promises all the way to the party!
Suddenly, without the telltale warning flickers the entire interior of the building was plunged into darkness! Luckily my table was set up near the door so what was left of the daylight found it’s way in to us. Without power, of course, the store was unable to operate, however customers continued to browse where there was a bit of light.
Have you ever been in a place in your life where things seemed to be sailing along smoothly when suddenly, without warning you were blindsided by the ‘storm of your life’? Times like that can be devastating, knocking the wind out of your chest and leaving you gasping for air!
Nine years ago I found myself in a similar situation. My husband of thirty four years had just received the third cancer diagnosis and for the first time since the first diagnosis fourteen years earlier, he was actually ill and losing the good health he had been enjoying for many years. We were at a good place in our lives. Recent empty nesters, we had plans and goals and were excited about the years to come. We lived near half of our grandchildren, enjoying regular visits with them and looked forward to watching them grow and become all that God intended them to be.
Then it hit! The blackness descended and we nearly lost our balance as we struggled to get back on our feet again. It was here and now that we began to understand, experientially what the scripture says in Deuteronomy 33:27, ‘The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms’; and in Psalm 30:5, ‘Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.’
Yes, we were definitely in the night, as dark as it was; all we could do was apply what we knew of our loving God to our hearts and hang on to the hope that joy would come again.
I can tell you now that joy did come, for me as I continued to lean hard on the ‘everlasting arms’ that forever held me up, and for my husband when early one morning he slipped out of his pain-wracked body into everlasting joy and peace! Now he lives in perpetual celebration with the One, our Lord, who made it all possible.
One day we will all reach the end of our respective journeys and there we will join in the celebration. Until then, storms may come, but as for me I will hang on to God’s promises all the way to the party!
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