The heavy rain hit the skylight as though it was being
tossed forcibly by the bucket full. A
jagged ribbon of lightning lit the night sky and the thunder rumbled close at
its heels. Am I talking about a
mid-summer night’s storm? No this was
last night—mid-January.
Since the
beginning of 2017, the weather has been a wild roller-coaster ride. Days of sun
and blue skies, days of deep cold, days of fog, days of snow and blowing snow,
of closed roads and unsafe travel, of rain , of sub-zero temperatures and back—and
we’re not even half way through January.
As I lay in
bed to the tune of thunder and lightning, I began to compare it to another ride
I’ve been on (and I surmise that I’m not the only one.) A thunder-bolt of grief a year after the
death of my husband, the joy of seeing great-grandchildren growing and
thriving, the sorrow of seeing a good friend enduring serious surgery and a
week later developing Gillian Barre syndrome, the pleasure of seeing my 20
year-old granddaughter’s book published, the unexpected death of another dear
friend, quiet moments of writing where inspiration comes as a surprise, walking
alongside friends who are on the waiting list for a heart for their three
month-old, and on and on it goes.
But that’s
life, isn’t it—the good alternating with the challenging and excruciatingly difficult in our
existence? That is the way life is, but
it’s up to us what we do with it and how we manage to walk on. We can
get bowed down with the load or we can put our hand ‘in the hand of the Man who
stilled the waters.’
Sometimes when difficulties and trials come one after another, it feels as though
we’re being tried by fire. Even that has an upside when we consider Zechariah 13:9
“I will bring those that remain through the fire and make them pure, as gold
and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call upon my name and I
will hear them; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord
is our God.’”
Thank you Lord, that I am yours and you, oh Lord are my God!
Ruth Smith Meyer is the author of two novels, "Not Easily Broken," "Not Far from the Tree," her memoirs, "Out of the Ordinary" and a children's book, "Tyson's Sad Bad Day." She is collaborating with five authors to write "Good Grief People" due to come out soon.
www.ruthsmithmeyer.com
3 comments:
Sounds like your life has been like the weather, up and down and all over the place. May the Lord grant you a peaceful period after all of that.
Such beautiful visuals, Ruth, in your words. And you are so right - it's all in how we choose to look at life, remembering the fire and the resultant purification. Lovely and thanks for the reminder to have a better perspective in the everyday.
I could feel the chill, hear the thunder and see the lightening, and then relax in the calm and warmth of sunshine after the storm, through your descriptive telling. Hmm, but the fire . . . Ruth, you've certainly experienced the heat from the fiery trial and the sting of hot tears. Even so, the sweetness of God's grace and warmth of His love flow in your testimony and scriptural application. ~~+~~
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