Cloudy Days

For what seems like a painful eternity (maybe about a week or two), weather has been…well…drab. A bit dreary. My hair says the rain has overstayed its welcome. And many of us have gone way over the “I’m so over it” mark on our frustrat-o-meter.

We’ve forgotten what the warmth of the sun feels like. We’re left wondering why the sky keeps spitting on us and will we ever be able to walk outside without a jacket again???

For many of us, the clouds darken our mood. The rain dampens our spirits. The looming gray washes out our colorful outlook and makes us retreat into shadows waiting for the perfect day to once again bathe ourselves in golden rays.

Our lives are often full of clouds. They tend to taint our emotional health. They cause us to wallow in hurts rather than seeking out healing. We forget our abundant blessings and keep ourselves velcroed to the negative. We live in a fog and we lose hope. We get tired and disenchanted and decide that maybe a rain rant will make it stop. But the rain is necessary.

Rain nourishes; it cleans; it reveals.

Deuteronomy 11:14: “then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.”

Maybe the showers in our lives are for cleansing. Maybe they will reveal parts of us that need some attention – not to defeat us, but to help us achieve a healthier emotional state. Perhaps by going through the test, we will better learn patience, forgiveness, love. It will help us to grow in character.

And there is one guarantee in every cloudy day – without exception...

Above the clouds, the sun still shines.

It never takes a break. It doesn’t lose its power. It waits… and when it’s time, it’s ready.

In the middle of the gray, we can focus on God to sustain us as He is always there. He never loses sight of us even if our fog causes us to lose sight of Him.

Yes, the rain is necessary – it will help us to reap a harvest within ourselves. But the sun is vital and will appear at just the right time without fail. There is a time for rain, but it’s not forever (even if it seems like it). The clouds will fade and the sun will shine through and we’ll bask in the glory of it all.