The sun came up this morning. It’s not a news flash – I know! It’s been doing that every day for thousands of years. Well…every day since God said, “Let it be.”
I took my front row seat on my porch swing with my first cup of tea for the day and waited. And I waited and waited and waited for the show that never came. Waited for the first sign of the oranges and pinks that usually say, “Here it comes!”
I waited for the first rays of light to peek out over the tree line behind the neighbor’s house across the street. Waited for the dew and leftover raindrops from last night’s rain to glisten in the sunshine.
And I waited for nothing. Oh sure, the sun came up, but it was behind the clouds. The sky got lighter and lighter but there was no show. It wasn’t the spectacular display of beauty I’d expected. The clouds left this morning’s sunrise kind of blah. Dull. Boring.
A cloudy morning isn’t something particularly new in NE Ohio. We generally get more clouds than sun. But the summer has been so gloriously nice that it didn’t take long to get me conditioned to expect to see the sun every morning.
But the truth is that sometimes it rains. It’s cloudy when we don’t want it to be. It’s dull and grey and blah and boring when we want sunshine and warmth and loveliness.
And sometimes it even rains on vacation at the beach when you only have 7 little days to squeeze in a year’s worth of outdoor activities and fun. Yuck! It’s really a bummer!
It can get us down and really alter our mood. It can be downright depressing if we let it.
If we let it.
Let.
Let is the key word.
Allow. Do not prevent. Give permission to.
There’s not much we have control of in this world. We can’t always control what happens to us. How people treat us. The economy. Our kids. (Can I get an Amen on that one?)
And we sure can’t control the weather. If we could, I’d have a clear sunrise every morning and sunset every night and it’d only rain between the hours of 10pm and 4am. Oh, and it’d be a perfect 78 degrees every day. Who’s with me?
There are a lot of things we can’t control, but our attitude isn’t on that list. We are in full control over our attitude and our perspective.
I found this pic on Instagram the other day and it reminds me so much of this.
It may have been a rainy day at the beach, but it was better than almost any day anywhere else. I was still on vacation, relaxing, resting and reconnecting with my family. I could still hear my favorite sound from the condo – the sound of the waves pounding against the shore.
Remembering those things made the day better. Made it lighter. Made it more fun than moping around because it rained on my vacation. And if I remember correctly, the rain passed and the clouds blew out and the afternoon was sunny and clear.
And life may be all sunshine and roses right now. Yay for you! Enjoy it. Embrace it. Soak in the rays and relax in the warmth.
But if it’s dreary, remember that clouds always pass. You’re still alive and breathing. You’re still on the right side of the grass. He is still with you. His presence is still heaven, even when it rains.
It may not look like what you wanted or expected…it may looked different than you planned…but it can still be good. Lovely. Beautiful.
We were so blessed to get to take the kids to Hawaii a few years ago. I couldn’t wait to get there and share my favorite place on earth with them and my favorite time of day on the North Shore – sunset. I love a clear sunset where we can watch for the green flash.
When time for sunset came, sadly, it was cloudy. I was so disappointed. Here we’d traveled thousands of miles and been up almost 24 hours and now the sunset was going to be cloudy. Boo!
But as we watched sky as the sun started to sink into the sea, it painted the back of the clouds and the sky behind them the most beautiful colors I’d ever seen. It was so spectacular….truly one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve gotten to watch there. (This picture doesn’t even begin to do it justice.)
It was as if the Lord was trying to tell me, “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. Loosen up and relax. Enjoy life. Enjoy every season. Enjoy the clear sky and the clouds.”
He works all things together for our good. He has such a knack at taking our whole messy life – the good and the bad and the ugly parts of it – and weave them all together into the most beautiful work of art. A true masterpiece.
If it’s cloudy today – hold on to Him. The clouds will part and the sun will shine again. He’ll work it all around to good somehow.
It’s not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Are you dancing yet?
